Express News Service
CHENNAI: A captain’s knock of 93 off 195 balls from Saurabh Tiwary enabled Jharkhand to secure a thrilling two-wicket win over Tamil Nadu in the final league round of the Ranji Trophy played at the Nehru stadium, Guwahati.
When Jharkhand began on Sunday morning they required 110 runs with six wickets in hand to register an outright win and they did it in style at the expense of the Vijay-Shankar led side.
A solid Tiwary was ably supported by youngster Kumar Kushagra, who made his maiden 50 in only his second first-class game. The duo raised 90 runs for the fifth wicket.
The first hour of a final day’s play is always crucial and the duo played out the first session before drinks with a lot of confidence and purpose.
It was indeed a remarkable performance from Jharkhand which lost its first match to Chhattisgarh by eight wickets.
But, the 15-run win against Delhi in its second match gave the team the confidence to perform to potential against Tamil Nadu. With 12 points in its kitty, Jharkhand advanced to the knock-outs phase.
“We were looking to get an early wicket in the morning and then apply pressure, but that was not to be. We knew about Tiwary’s ability as has the experience. But Kumar Kushagra put in a stubborn effort and upset all our plans. That partnership (90 runs) took the game away from us,” said M Venkataramana, head coach of Tamil Nadu.
Select scores
Group A: Madhya Pradesh 585/9 d in 204.3 ovs vs 432/9 in 153 ovs(Sachin 114, Rahul 136);
Group C: Karnataka 453/8 d in 132.2 ovs bt Pondicherry 241 & 192 61 ovs;
Group D: Odisha 284 & 140 in 42 ovs lost to Mumbai 532-9 d 131 ovs;
Group G: Maharashtra 462 & 211/5 d 39 ovs vs Uttar Pradesh 317 & 359/4 in 70.1 ovs;
Group H: TN 285 & 152 in 54.2 ovs lost to Jharkhand 226 & 214/8 in 80.4 ovs; Chhattisgarh 482/9 d (Khare 156 n.o) vs Delhi 295 & 396/2 d in 89.3 ovs (Dhull 200 n.o).
Who qualified
Seven toppers of the Elite Groups — MP, Bengal, Karnataka, Mumbai, Uttarakhand, Punjab and UP — have directly qualified for the quarterfinals. Jharkhand, the Elite group team with the least points, will face Nagaland, which topped the Plate Group, in the pre-quarterfinal.
Pre-quarterfinal
Jharkhand vs Nagaland from Mar 12 to 15 in Kolkata. Quarterfinals will be played after completion of the IPL in June
Full story: newindianexpress.com
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