Maharashtra scored a commanding 152-run win over Mumbai at the IIT-Chemplast grounds while Kerala hit it lucky by going through on spin of the coin after their semifinal against Hyderabad at the CPT-IP grounds was washed out without a ball being bowled.
Maharashtra, who had amassed 379 for nine from their 90 overs, shot Mumbai out for just 227, medium-pacer Dominic Joseph Muthuswamy was their hero with four for 53. Medium-pacer Samad Fallah (2/63) and spinner Ajinkya Joshi (2/44) were the other wicket-takers.
The Maharashtra trio ripped Mumbai batting order with regular strikes, and the destruction sarted quite early.
Mumbai lost opener Swapnil Salvi (11) in the seventh over when the batsman edged Fallah to wicket-keeper Rohit Motwani. It set the trend for the day as Mumbai batsmen failed to negotiate rival bowlers.
Fellow-opener Kaustubh Pawar made an elegant 43 (113b, 5x4) and Mumbai suddenly lost three more wickets for the addition of just 20 runs, and not even a stand of 64 in eight overs for the seventh wicket between Onkar Gaurav (37, 56b, 2x4, 1x6) and Siddharth Chitnis (46, 26b, 6x4, 2x6) could keep them in the fray.
In the other match, umpires K Srinivasan and GR Sadashiv Iyer decided after three inspections that not even a ball could be bowled in the Kerala-Hyderabad fixture. Kerala captain VA Jagadeesh spun the coin and Hyderabad skipper DB Ravi Teja called wrong.
The two day 90 overs-a-side final will be held at the Guru Nanak College grounds.
Brief scores: Maharashtra: 379/9 in 90 overs bt Mumbai: 227 all out in 65.1 overs (Kaustubh Pawar 43, Siddharth Chitnis 46, Onkar Gaurav 37; Dominic Joseph Muthuswamy 4-53, Samad Fallah 2-63, Ajinkya Joshi 2-44).
Kerala bt Hyderabad on spin of coin, match abandoned without a ball being bowled.
