J & K’s triumph
When Jammu and Kashmir lifted the Ranji Trophy this season, it was not merely a cricket result; it was a quiet rewriting of a national narrative.
Jammu and Kashmir scripted history on Tuesday by securing their first-ever Ranji Trophy victory over Delhi with a seven-wicket win at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here. The triumph, their second outright win of the season, lifted J&K to second place in the Elite Group D standings, just behind leaders Mumbai.
Opting to bowl, J&K made early inroads through pacer Auqib Nabi, who ripped through Delhi’s batting line-up with a fiery spell of 5 for 35. He found strong support from Vanshaj Sharma (2 for 57) and Abid Mushtaq (2 for 30) as Delhi were bowled out for 211 in their first innings.
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In reply, J&K recovered from early setbacks thanks to a captain’s knock from Paras Dogra, who struck a fluent 106 off 183 balls. He was well aided by Abdul Samad (85 off 115) and Kanhaiya Wadhawan (47 off 81), as the visitors posted 310 to take a crucial 91-run lead.
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Delhi seemed to wrest control in their second innings at 267 for 5, with captain Ayush Badoni (72 off 73) and Ayush Doseja (62 off 88) leading the fightback. But a stunning lower-order collapse saw the hosts lose their last five wickets for just 10 runs, bundled out for 277 to set J&K a target of 179.
Vanshaj Sharma was once again the chief destroyer, claiming 6 for 68, his third five-wicket haul in only his fourth first-class match, to set up the historic win.
J&K ended Day 3 at 55 for 2, needing 124 more runs. On the final morning, opener Qamran Iqbal rose to the occasion with a brilliant, unbeaten 133, his career-best, guiding his side to a famous win in their 43rd encounter against Delhi.
Elsewhere, the final day of Round 4 of this season’s Ranji Trophy witnessed several other matches going right down to the wire. Joining the list of victors on Tuesday, Madhya Pradesh registered a narrow three-wicket win against Goa while Bengal got a bonus-point win against Railways, and Vidarbha trumped Odisha by 100 runs. In Plate Group, Manipur overcame a forgettable start of 8 for 5 chasing just 12 runs, to eventually beat Mizoram by five wickets.
Brief scores: Delhi 211 and 277 all out (Ayush Badoni 72, Ayush Doseja 62; Vanshaj Sharma 6-68) lost to Jammu & Kashmir 310 and 179/3 (Qamran Iqbal 133 not out, Hritik Shokeen 2-52) by seven wickets.
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