Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir stormed into their first-ever Ranji Trophy final with a six-wicket win over Bengal on Day Four of their semi-final at the Bengal Cricket Academy ground in Kolkata on February 18.
Seam-bowling all-rounder Auqib Nabi once again rose to the occasion, bagging four wickets alongside Sunil Kumar as Bengal folded for 99 in their second innings on day three and tilted the contest in J&K’s favour. Set a target of 126 to win, J&K chased it down in 34.4 overs, with Vanshaj Sharma and Abdul Samad hitting an unbeaten 43 and 30 respectively.
In the morning, Mohammed Shami and Akash Deep struck early to dismiss Shubham Pundir (27) and captain Paras Dogra (nine). But Samad’s counterattack, including two towering sixes off Shahbaz Ahmed over long-on and extra cover respectively, swung the momentum back in J&K’s favour.
Sharma, after hitting Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal for three boundaries, sealed the win with a six over Mukesh Kumar’s head to trigger jubilant celebrations as the players lifted their coach in a huddle.
Nabi was rightfully judged as the player of the match for his match haul of nine wickets, bringing in a red-letter day for the J&K side, who have been impressive with the red ball for the last few years.
J&K are now set to face Karnataka in the title clash to be played from February 24 to 28, with the latter poised to take a first-innings lead against Uttarakhand in the other semifinal happening in Lucknow. For now, February 18 will forever be etched in golden letters in the cricketing journey of Jammu and Kashmir.
