Pune: Playing on their home turf, Maharashtra defeated Madhya Pradesh by 40 runs and emerged champions in the Ranji Trophy Plate championship final at the Nehru Stadium on Tuesday.

Resuming at their overnight score of 153 for five, Maharashtra were bowled out for 202 in their second innings.

Dhiraj Jadhav, who scored a magnificent double century (251) in his first innings, followed it up with 79 runs in the second essay, while D. Mohan and Kashinath Khadkikar contributed 31 and 25 runs, respectively.

For Madhya Pradesh, Yogesh Golwalkar was the pick of the bowlers claiming five wickets while Sanjay Pande and Abbas Ali took two wickets each.

Needing 334 runs to win, the visitors were bowled out for 293 with Kiran Adhav taking three wickets. Khadkikar and Ranjit Khirid also chipped in with two wickets each.

Opener Naman Ojha was the highest scorer for MP with 70 runs off 76 balls, while S. Dholpure (56), S. Pitre (57) and A. Ali (46) also contributed.

BRIEF SCORES

Maharashtra 501 & 202 (D. Jadhav 79; Y. Golwalkar 5/73). Madhya Pradesh 371 & 293 (N. Ojha 70, S. Pitre 57; K. Adhav 3/115). Maharashtra won by 40 runs.