1948–49 Ranji Trophy

1948–49 Ranji Trophy

The Ranji Trophy
Administrator(s)	BCCI
Cricket format	First-class
Tournament format(s)	Knockout
Champions	Bombay (5th title)
Participants	15
Most runs	Dattu Phadkar (Bombay) (570)[1]
Most wickets	Ranga Sohoni (Baroda) (33)[2]

The 1948–49 Ranji Trophy was the 15th season of the Ranji Trophy. Bombay won the title defeating Baroda in the final. The semi-final match between Bombay and Maharashtra was the highest-scoring first-class match of all time.^[3] A total of 2,376 runs were scored, including nine centuries.^[4]

Highlights

• B. B. Nimbalkar scored 443 not out for Maharashtra v Kathiawar at Poona.^[5] It was the second highest individual score in first class cricket at the time and still the highest by an Indian cricketer.^[6] Nimbalkar was nine runs behind Don Bradman's record at lunch on the third day but Kathiawar conceded the match at this point.

• Maharashtra's 826 for 4 was the second highest team total in Ranji trophy at the time.^[7]

• The Zonal format was not used in the 1948–49 season of Ranji Trophy. It was the only time that this was done until the zones were replaced by the Elite and Plate divisions in 2002–03
• The Bombay v Maharashtra semifinal produced 2376 runs, in the most in any first class match.^[8] Bombay's total of 1365 runs is the record for a team in any first class match^[9]

• Three batsmen – Uday Merchant 143 & 156, Dattu Phadkar 131 & 160 and Madhusudan Rege 133 & 100 – uniquely scored hundreds in both innings.

• The semifinals and finals were timeless matches. Both the Bombay – Maharashtra semifinal and the Bombay – Baroda final went into the seventh day,
• Three of the four semifinalists were from the West Zone.
• Assam made their Ranji Trophy debut in this season against United Provinces.

Draw

Top half

Round 1

Round 2

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

17 Dec 1948 – Shillong

Assam

153 & 118

United Provinces

368

12 Feb 1949 – Kanpur

United Provinces

131 & 91

12 Nov 1948 – Bangalore

Maharashtra

396

Mysore

186 & 122

16 Dec 1948 – Poona

Maharashtra

327 & 157

Maharashtra

826/4

Kathiawar

238

5 Mar 1949 – Poona

Maharashtra

407 & 604

Bombay

651 & 714

12 Feb 1949 – Madras

Madras

331 & 106/2

Bombay

375 & 254/5d

21 Jan 1949 – Calcutta

Bengal

251 & 131/4

Bombay

574/5d & 127/2d

Bottom half

Round 1

Round 2

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

21 Jan 1949 – Jamshedpur

Bihar

153 & 136

Delhi

212 & 48

12 Feb 1949 – Jamshedpur

Bihar

188 & 128

Holkar

328

3 Dec 1948 – Indore

Holkar

390 & 46/1

Central Provinces and Berar

247 & 317/8d

7 Mar 1949 – Indore

Holkar

133 & 240

Baroda

349 & 25/1

17 Dec 1948 – Ahmedabad

Gujarat

198 & 94

Baroda

211 & 253

16 Nov 1948 – Secunderabad

Hyderabad

80 & 80

Baroda

98 & 65/2

Final

18–24 March 1949 Scorecard

Bombay (H)	v	Baroda
620 (253.3 overs) K. C. Ibrahim 219, Michael Dalvi 110 Ranga Sohoni 3/117		268 (145.1 overs) Vijay Hazare 98 Dattu Phadkar 6/49
361 (123.4 overs) G. S. Ramchand 80* Ranga Sohoni 5/86		245 (126.1 overs) Vijay Hazare 115 Polly Umrigar 4/35

Bombay won by 468 runs Brabourne Stadium, Bombay Umpires: Prasad Sinha and M. G. Vijayasarathi

• Bombay won the toss and decided to bat
• Timeless match, ended on the seventh day

Scorecards and averages

• CricketArchive

References

1. "Ranji Trophy, 1948/49 / Records / Most runs". Retrieved 23 August 2014.
2. "Ranji Trophy, 1948/49 / Records / Most wickets". Retrieved 23 August 2014.
3. "A late starter". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
4. "Ranji Trophy, Maharashtra v Bombay at Pune, Mar 5-11, 1949". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
5. Maharashtra v Kathiawar, 16 – 18 December 1948
6. Highest scores in first class cricket, acscricket.com
7. Highest Team Totals in India, acscricket.com
8. Highest Match Aggregates, acscricket.com
9. Highest Team Totals, acscricket.com

External links

• Series home at ESPNcricinfo