Rajasthan wins Ranji Trophy 2011-12

Rajasthan wins Ranji Trophy 2011-12

Rajasthan wins Ranji Trophy 2011-12 for consecutive second year. The match was drawn but Rajasthan lift the 2011-12 Ranji Trophy on the basis of first innings lead. Rajasthan completed formalities on the fifth and final day to successfully defend the Ranji Trophy by virtue of the first-innings lead against Tamil Nadu, at the Chepauk, in Chennai, on Monday. The match was dead as a contest on the fourth day itself, when Rajasthan gained a huge 326-run first innings lead. Rajasthan walked away with a winners' cheque of Rs 2 crore, while Tamil Nadu got half that amount. The man who played a huge hand in turning a bunch of also-rans into a gutsy domestic outfit is undoubtedly captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar. With back-to-back domestic titles under his belt, Kanitkar will now certainly be remembered as one of the finest domestic captains in recent times.

Rajasthan, who won the title last year after qualifying from the Plate Division, were considered underdogs all through this year and needed to win two out right games in the league stages to make the knock-outs. Man of the match Vineet Saxena said that his double century couldn't have come at a better time than in the finals. "Full credit to Tamil Nadu bowlers as they didn't give away any easy runs. We had a good opening partnership. Our plan was to stay at the wicket and bat as long as possible. We knew that if we can bat long enough, it will be an advantage when we are bowling second. This has been my best season and this knock was a special one as I got it in the finals."

Score Summary:

Rajasthan (1st innings) 621 in 245 overs

Vineet Saxena 257

Aakash Chopra 94

Hrishikesh Kanitkar 67

Robin Bist 57

RR Parida 40

Rituraj Singh 45

Aushik Srinivas 4/192

Tamil Nadu (1st innings) 295 in 102.4 overs

Dinesh Karthik 150

R Prasanna 44

Rituraj Singh 4/76

Rajasthan (2nd innings) 204/5 declared

Robin Bist 92

RR Parida 43*

Tamilnadu (2nd innings) 8/2 in 13 overs