Ranji Trophy: Mumbai deal knockout punch to Gujarat

Gujarat lose out on quarterfinal berth after hosts score 227/6 in 65 overs to deny them superior run rate than MP

In the end, Gujarat's efforts to secure one point from their last Group B league game against Mumbai came to nothing. Despite not losing outright and taking the solitary point from the drawn game here on Friday, Gujarat have failed to make the quarterfinals.
Gujarat lost out to Madhya Pradesh for the third quarterfinal berth from this group due to an inferior run rate. Gujarat, despite bagging 24 points, the same as MP, finish with a Net Run Rate of -0.092. MP's better NRR of -0.059 saw them join Mumbai (35 points) and Punjab (26) from Group B for the knock-out that will be held in February 2016.
Gujarat chief coach Vijay Patel said at the end of the match that when they resumed their first innings on the final day at 355/7, they had to maintain a run rate of four an over so as to stay ahead of MP in terms of NRR. That they managed to score at only three an over in their total of 421 in 139.4 overs – 110 behind Mumbai's 531 – did not help their cause.
Furthermore, when Mumbai began their second innings, Gujarat had to keep them to under 160 in the minimum of 59 overs before which the match could be called off, or to under 219 in the maximum 74 overs that they had to face. The wickets, in this case, were immaterial.
But, as it happened, Mumbai made 202/6 in 59 overs and eventually reached 227/6 in 65 overs before players from both the sides shook hands half-an-hour into the last hour. With three points, Mumbai finished on top the table.
Other than the permutations, the only other point of interest on Friday morning was if Gujarat could avert the follow-on, needing 27 runs with three wickets in hand.
Centurion Bhargav Merai added 16 to his overnight score of 150 before digging into a Shardul Thakur yorker-length delivery and offered the Mumbai pacer a simple return catch. Merai's nine-hour-three-minute tenure at the crease for 166 ensured that his team averted the follow-on embarrassment. Thakur finished with 6/107, his first five-wicket haul this season.
Gujarat's import, Mumbai's own Ramesh Powar, was aggressive in his approach, using the horizontal bat on either side of the wicket to great effect. His sweet knock of 34 in his final first-class match contained six fours before he was last out stumped off Iqbal Abdulla.