Maharashtra topped the West Zone League Ranji Trophy limited-overs tournament after beating former champions Mumbai by one wicket in a thrilling encounter, at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on Friday.
By virtue of their third straight victory, Maharashtra, with a match in hand, took their league tally to 14 points, while Mumbai completed their league engagements with 13 points.
Mumbai have themselves to blame for the defeat, as they gave away 34 extras and their fielding left much to be desired.
The result of the Maharashtra-Mumbai tie now leaves Baroda (eight points) with the difficult task of making it into the next stage.
Baroda meet Maharashtra on Sunday.
Chasing the total of 244, Maharashtra, who were 193 for 8 at one stage, came through thanks to a gritty unbeaten innings from tail-ender Anupam Sanklecha (34), who scored the winning runs with a boundary in the penultimate over.
Playing his part effectively during the run-chase was Maharashtra captain Sairaj Bahutule (28). He batted sensibly under pressure and added valuable 42 runs for the ninth wicket with Sanklecha.
Earlier in the day, Mumbai were let down by their batting after being reasonably well-placed at 97 for 2.
They lost five wickets for just 51 runs. However, a fine half-century by Prashant Naik (58), who ably supported by Nilesh Kulkarni (25), at least gave their bowlers a fighting total to defend as they ended up at 243 for 9.
The duo put on a precious 65 runs for the eight wicket to give their innings some respectability.
Scorecard
Mumbai:
W Jaffer c J Patil b S Sriram 27
S Marathe c Y Takawale b A Sanklecha 2
R Powar c Y Takawale b A Sanklecha 9
R Sharma c S Bahutule b S Mundhe 59
A Muzumdar st Y Takawale b S Bahutule 15
P Naik c A Sanklecha b S Mundhe 58
A Nayar run out 5
W Mota c & b S Bahutule 0
N Kulkarni c A Sanklecha b N Paradkar 25
R Verma not out 9
S Hazare not out 2
Extras: (4b, 9lb, 12w, 7nb) 32
Total: (for nine wickets in 50 overs) 243
Fall of wickets: 1-26, 2-42, 3-97, 4-135, 5-138, 6-148, 7-148, 8-213, 9-233.
Bowling: A Sanklecha 9-1-55-2; J Patil 6-0-30-0; S Mundhe 7-0-47-2; S Sriram 10-0-44-1; S Bahutule 10-2-26-2; N Paradkar 8-1-28-1.
Maharashtra:
P DeShetty st S Marathe b N Kulkarni 49
R Motwani c S Marathe b S Hazare 8
H Kanitkar c W Mota b R Powar 26
S Sriram run out 26
Y Takawale c & b N Kulkarni 0
N Paradkar run out 2
A Raut c & b R Sharma 31
S Bahutule c & b R Sharma 28
S Mundhe b R Verma 7
A Sanklecha not out 34
J Patil not out 0
Extras: (2b, 10lb, 21w, 1nb) 34
Total: (for nine wickets in 48.5 overs) 245
Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-85, 3-109, 4-109, 5-111, 6-151, 7-180, 8-193, 9-235.
Bowling: R Verma 9.5-0-54-1; S Hazare 4-0-25-1; W Mota 2-0-8-0; A Nayar 4-0-38-0; N Kulkarni 9-0-33-2; R Powar 10-0-37-1; R Sharma 10-0-38-2.
