Ranji Trophy MUM vs DEL | Doseja stands out with a sublime century as the match ends in a draw

Ayush Doseja’s fourth hundred of the season, scored in his maiden match as captain, was the centrepiece of the final day as Delhi wrapped up its Ranji Trophy campaign with a draw against Group-B table-topper Mumbai on Sunday.

Doseja’s unbeaten 159 (230b, 11×4, 2×6) stood out on an otherwise inconsequential final day at the Sharad Pawar Cricket Academy ground. When both teams agreed to shake hands — with early tea taken 30 minutes before the scheduled interval — Delhi was placed at 407 for six in its second innings.

The fate of the contest had effectively been sealed on the penultimate day itself, when Delhi wiped out Mumbai’s 96-run first-innings lead to end the day at 206 for four. Any faint hopes Mumbai had of forcing a result quickly faded on Sunday morning when nightwatcher Divij Mehra began proceedings with a confident square cut and a driven boundary off Mohit Avasthi’s opening over.

With Mehra playing the aggressor, Doseja, who had resumed on 62, batted with composure and minimal risk. By the time Mehra top-edged Onkar Tarmale to substitute Sylvester D’Souza, who completed a fine diving catch at deep third, Doseja had already moved into the nineties.

The left-hander then stamped his authority on the innings. He danced down the wicket to off-spinner Himanshu Singh to loft him for a six, moving from 93 to 99, before bringing up a well-earned century in the same over to mark a memorable first outing as captain.

Debutant left-hander Sumit Mathur then impressed with his assured strokeplay, sweeping and cutting the spinners with confidence to keep the scoreboard ticking. Doseja, meanwhile, went past the 150-run mark with ease and also breached the 900-run mark for the season, underlining his consistency through a difficult campaign for Delhi.

With three points earned for securing the first-innings lead, Mumbai finished the group stage with 33 points and will face Karnataka in the quarterfinal at the same venue from February 6. Delhi’s disappointing season, marked by inconsistency and missed opportunities, ended with nine points and a seventh-place finish in the eight-team group.

The scores: Delhi – 1st innings: 221.

Mumbai – 1st innings: 317.

Delhi – 2nd innings: Sanat Sangwan c (sub) Tamore b Tarmale 24, Rahul Dagar lbw b Deshpande 19, Vaibhav Kandpal c Tarmale b Himanshu 61, Aryan Rana c & b Himanshu 21, Ayush Doseja (not out) 159, Divij Mehra c (sub) D’Souza b Tarmale 46, Sumit Mathur b Himanshu 34, Pranav Rajvansi (not out) 21; Extras (b-4, lb-4, nb-2, w-12): 22; Total (for six wkts. in 105 overs): 407.

Fall of wickets: 1-49, 2-51, 3-100, 4-206, 5-281, 6-339.

Mumbai bowling: Deshpande 16-1-81-1, Avasthi 13-0-53-0, Mulani 23-1-83-0, Tarmale 14-0-49-2, Himanshu 29-4-86-3, Musheer 7-0-31-0, Lad 3-0-16-0.