Jammu and Kashmir created history in West Bengal’s Kalyani city, as they defeated Bengal by six wickets to reach their maiden Ranji Trophy final. With this win, Jammu and Kashmir became the first team from the Himalayan region to reach the summit clash of the Ranji Trophy competition.
Vanshaj Sharma (43*) and Abdul Samad (30*) played pivotal knocks to help Jammu and Kashmir chase down a target of 126 on the final day of the semi-final. Jammu and Kashmir had elected to field first, but Bengal went on to post 328 on the board in their first innings.
The major highlight of Bengal’s innings was a fine century from Sudip Kumar Gharami (146), who hit 21 fours and one six during his knock. The visitors, however, fell 26 runs short in their first innings reply, after they were bowled out for 302 runs.
Jammu and Kashmir’s comeback vs Bengal
Skipper Paras Dogra (58) and Abdul Samad (82) scored half-centuries, but a lack of contributions from the top three batters meant that Jammu and Kashmir fell short in the first innings.
The visitors, however, scripted a remarkable turnaround during Bengal’s second innings. While Bengal would have hoped to capitalize on their 26-run lead, that, however, failed to happen. Bengal were restricted to 19/4 in the eighth over, and later to 79/8 in the 22nd over.
Shahbaz Ahmed, with 24 runs, was their top scorer as the hosts were eventually bowled out for just 99 runs. This meant that Bengal had only a small lead of 125 runs heading into Jammu and Kashmir’s run chase. Auqib Nabi and Sunil Kumar took four wickets each in Bengal’s second innings.
Jammu and Kashmir got off to a shaky start to their run chase as they were 12/2 at one stage. Shubham Pundir, the No.3 batsman, then scored 27 runs before being dismissed with Jammu and Kashmir’s score reading 50/3.
However, the visitors looked untroubled from then on as Vanshaj and Abdul forged a 55-run stand to take Jammu and Kashmir to a historic win. Paras Dogra’s side will next face the winner of the other semi-final between Karnataka and Uttarakhand in the final. The final will begin on 24 February.
Auqib Nabi, who registered figures of 9/123 and scored 42 runs in the first innings, was adjudged the Player of the Match. “He is exceptional, has so much control over himself, has good work ethics and has been disciplined. He never gets satisfied and puts his hand up for any responsibility,” Jammu and Kashmir skipper Paras Dogra said on Auqib, as per Sportstar.
