In a historic Ranji Trophy semi-final, Jammu & Kashmir defeated Bengal by 6 wickets at the Bengal Cricket Academy Ground in Kalyani to reach their maiden Ranji final. Despite the brilliance of Mohammed Shami, Bengal failed to the J&K side who stayed in the hunt.
Shami and Gharami: The Bengal heroes
The first innings of Bengal was anchored by yet another magnificent innings by Sudip Gharami. However, despite his 146, Jammu & Kashmir restricted Bengal to 328 followed by Auqib Nabi’s 5/87. In response, Parag Dogra, the Jammu & Kashmir captain made history by becoming only the second player to go past 10,000 Ranji Trophy runs. He scored 58 alongside 82 from Abdur Samad.
Mohammed Shami rose to the occasion and reminded everyone of his class. He claimed a career-best 8/90 to bowl J&K out for 302, handing Bengal a slim lead of 26 runs. Shami yet again sent a strong message to the selectors of Indian cricket team with his powerful performance.
History made after the classic collapse
Day 3 changed the fate of the match making it a nightmare for Bengal batters. Auqib Nabi (4/36) and Sunil Kumar (4/27) looked lethal as Bengal batting saw a massive collapse. Nabi and Sunil bundled out Bengal for a shocking 99 runs in just 25.1 overs, setting a modest target of 126 for Jammu & Kashmir.
Chasing 126, J&K lost two early wickets and Akash Deep (3/46) gave the early breakthroughs. Still it was just a matter of time for them to register a historic victory. Vanshaj Sharma (43*) played role of a composed anchor while Abdul Samad (30*) counter-attacked with three huge sixes to drain Bengal’s confidence and energy.
Eventually Jammu & Kashmir won the match by six wickets to enter their maiden Ranji Trophy final. They will now take on the winners from the ongoing semi-final between Karnataka and Uttarakhand from February 24.
Brief scores:
Jammu & Kashmir 302 (Samad 82, Shami 8-90) and 126 for 4 (Vanshaj 43, Samad 30*, Akash Deep 3-46) beat Bengal 328 (Gharami 146, Nabi 5-87) and 99 (Shahbaz 24, Sunil 4-27, Nabi 4-36) by six wickets
