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The Ranji Trophy, 1947-48 was the first Ranji Trophy on the soil of independent India and a number of 17 teams got themselves registered in the tournament. The interest and enthusiasm of the Indian cricket enthusiasts were very high, as they witnessed the Indian cricketers competing with each other on their home soil, for the first time. The teams that took part in the tournament include the likes of Baroda, Bengal, Bihar, Bombay, CP & Berar, Delhi & Districts, Gujarat, Holkar, Hyderabad, Kathiawar, Madras, Maharashtra, Mysore, Nawanagar, Rajputana, Sind and the United Province. The match between the teams of Nawanagar and Maharashtra at Jamnagar started the tournament and the match was held from 05-07 December, 1947. The closely fought match saw the Maharashtra team winning by as mere as 1 wicket, as they kept their heads cool till the end.
With such a nice and exciting start, the interest of the cricket lovers increased a lot to the tournament and the second match of the Ranji Trophy, 1947-48 was played between the teams of Bombay and Sind. The two teams played the match at Bombay from 12-15 December, 1947 and the Bombay team won the match by a huge margin of an innings and 453 runs, with total dominance over their opponents. The next match involved the teams of Delhi and Rajputana and the match was held at Delhi from 12-14 December, 1947. The winner of the match was Delhi and the margin was quite big, an innings and 44 runs. After the Delhi-Rajputana match, the teams of Mysore and CP & Berar met with each other in the next match that was held at Bangalore from 15-17 December, 1947. The CP & Berar team won the match convincingly by a margin of 113 runs. The next match was between Hyderabad and Madras and in the match that held at Secunderabad from 19-21 December, the Hyderabad team won by a huge margin of 254 runs.
The match between Kathiawar and Gujarat was played at Ahmedabad from 20-22 December, 1947 and the match saw the Kathiawar team winning by 5 wickets. The teams of CP & Berar and Hyderabad then clashed with each other in the next match of the Ranji Trophy, 1947-48, at Nagpur from 24-26 December, 1947. The Hyderabad team won the match comprehensively by 9 wickets. The teams of Bombay and Maharashtra played a match against each other at Bombay from 25-28 December, 1947 and in the match, the Bombay team played wonderfully and won it by an innings and 138 runs. In the next match of the Ranji Trophy, 1947-48, the teams of Bengal and Holkar clashed together. In the match that was held at Calcutta from 31 December, 1947 - 03 January, 1948, the Holkar team got a win of 128 runs.
The tournament went on smoothly and quite nicely and after the Bengal-Holkar match, the teams of United Provinces and Bihar played against each other at Allahabad from 10-12 January 1948. The United Provinces team won the match convincingly with a margin of 8 wickets. The United Provinces team appeared in the next match also and this time, it battled with the Holkar team at Indore from 16-18 January 1948. The Holkar team played extraordinarily well in the match and won by a huge margin of an innings and 233 runs. In the next match, there was a battle between the teams of Kathiawar and Baroda and the match was held at Dhirol from 18-21 January 1948. The match saw the Kathiawar team narrowly winning by 2 wickets. The last match of the group level of the Ranji Trophy, 1947-48 saw the Kathiawar team playing against the Bombay team at Dhirol from 13-16 February 1948. The match was drawn during the stipulated duration and the match officials declared the Bombay team as the winner, as it was leading in the first innings of the match.
The four teams that became successful to enter into the Semi-Final stage of the Ranji Trophy, 1947-48 were the teams like Holkar, Delhi, Bombay and Hyderabad. The first two teams that is the Holkar and Delhi appeared in the first Semi-Final of the tournament at Indore from 21-24 February, 1948. The Holkar team played extremely well in the match and won by a huge margin of an innings and 130 runs, to reach the Final. The second Semi-Final match saw a battle between the teams of Bombay and Hyderabad at Bombay from 06-09 March, 1948. The match saw a total dominance of the Bombay team over its opponents and as a result, the team won the match by a huge margin of an innings and 156 runs. The Final match was held at Indore from 20-23 March, 1948, between the teams of Holkar and Bombay and the Holkar team won the match comprehensively by 9 wickets and became the champions of the tournament.
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