Ranji Trophy: The emergence of Jharkhand as Ranji Trophy Power
In their first innings, Nagaland were bowled out for 289 in 103.3 overs, trailing by a whopping 591 runs.
Image credit: PA Images The famous Eden Gardens stadium in Kolkatta was the venue for the matchChetan Bist got his fifth hundred of the season and third in consecutive innings for his team Nagaland.
In all the four Ranji matches this season he has scored a century. He remained not out on 122 while all 10 wickets fell. Chetan Bist became the highest run-getter of the season.
Powerful batting from Jharkhand
Led by a powerful display of character from the middle-order and tail-enders, Jharkhand breached the 800-run mark for only the seventh time in Ranji Trophy history on Monday.
Jharkhand rode on a 191-run 10th wicket partnership between Shahbaz Nadeem and Rahul Shukla to accumulate a mammoth 880 in its first innings in the Ranji Trophy pre-quarterfinal match against Nagaland at the Eden Gardens.
17-year-old wicketkeeper Kumar Kushagra converted his maiden first-class century to a massive 266 in just his third match.
Nagaland’s loose hold over the match
While the total raised a mountain of questions on the Eden Garden pitch, the scoreboard was not enough to accurately picture the match. Nagaland looked in control for the initial hour as they dug benefit from the green pitch, but soon things started slipping away off from their hands. Fourteen catches were dropped during Jharkhand’s innings.
Eden Gardens’ curator Sujan Mukherjee said, “Until lunch on Day One, Nagaland played decent cricket. They got two early wickets. Then, they were caught in the quagmire of poor catching.
They made schoolboy errors and almost every Jharkhand batsman benefited from that.
After three more dropped chances on Monday morning, Nagaland’s dropped-catches count rose to 14 or 15. It’s a sporting pitch. Bowlers have some purchase, while you can play your shots as well. Don’t think Jharkhand would have crossed 400 if the catches were taken,”
The route to the quarter finals
Technically, Jharkhand has ensured its place in the quarterfinals if we look at the overall first innings.
However, it will be interesting to see if they will play for the complete 10 wickets or declare as soon as the lead crosses the 700 mark.