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Cricket PlayersNabi-Sunil fuelled J&K create history by reaching their first-ever Ranji Trophy final
Needing 126 to win, J&K resumed Day 4 on 43/2 and suffered a little hiccup before Samad ran amok to take his team over the line.
In an extraordinary day for Indian cricket, Jammu and Kashmir reached their first-ever final of the prestigious Ranji Trophy after beating Bengal by six wickets at the Bengal Cricket Academy Ground in Kalyani on Wednesday.
Medium pacers Auqib Nabi and Sunil Kumar were the architects of the victory, to all intents and purposes. Their bowling, particularly in the second innings, proved decisive as Bengal collapsed for just 99 runs. Both bowlers took four wickets each as J&K, who actually conceded a 26-run lead in the first innings, changed the complexion of the match in a big way on Tuesday.
Needing just 126 to win yesterday, J&K had a massive scare at the start when their openers Shubham Khajuria (1) and Yawer Hassan (6) were removed by India international Akash Deep in the blink of an eye. Considering Bengal had been bowled for inside 100 not long ago, it appeared the hosts could pull off a miracle but that wasn't to be, as it turned out. Shubham Singh Pundir and Vanshaj Sharma took their score to 43/2 at the close of play on Tuesday to blow some of the gloom away for the visitors.
On the morning of day four, J&K suffered another blip as Pundir (27) and next in, captain PK Dogra (9) fell in relatively quick time, leaving their team reeling at 71/4, reviving Bengal's hopes not a little. Dogra, who became only the second batsman in the history of Ranji Trophy to score 10,000 runs during his innings of 58 in the first essay, would have been disappointed with himself having left his team in the lurch at a crucial stage.
Abdul Samad dispels any possibilities for Bengal
Whatever chances Bengal may have had at that time, after seeing the back of Dogra, were then smashed to pieces by J&K’s IPL star Abdul Samad. Samad, who plays for Lucknow Super Giants now after making his name at Sunrisers Hyderabad, hit three sixes in his innings of 30 not out off 27 balls to make history for his team. Vanshaj remained unbeaten on 43 and played his part to a tee.
"Last time we missed it in the quarters, but we did all the hard work and we deserved it," Nabi, who in all took nine wickets in the match including a five-for in the first innings, said after the game. J&K now await the winners of the second semi-final between Karnataka and Uttarakhand. The southern side at the moment look overwhelming favourites after taking a 503-run first innings lead.
