Ranji Trophy: J&K enter quarterfinals; Services sign off with second-highest run-chase
New Delhi, Feb 2 (IANS) On last day of the 2024/25 Ranji Trophy league stage, Jammu & Kashmir sealed their spot into the quarter-finals with a 182-run over Baroda. With the massive victory, Jammu & Kashmir also ended up as table toppers in Group A, which is a huge achievement.
Resuming from 58/2, Baroda were never in the sight to chase 365 and were eventually all out for 182 in 54.5 overs. Off-spinner Sahil Lotra took the first four wickets to fall on the day, and finished with 7-75 in 26 overs, while Abid Mushtaq took 3-71 as Jammu & Kashmir ended league stage with 36 points.
They had five outright wins out of seven, including one coming over defending champions Mumbai at the Sharad Pawar MCA Cricket Ground in the Bandra-Kurla Complex, to seal their spot in the quarter-finals after five years.
Sources have told IANS that Jammu & Kashmir will now play its quarter-final game against Kerala at Pune from February 8-12 instead of its home ground in Jammu due to winter weather conditions in the city. Other quarter-final games confirmed for the Ranji Trophy are Vidarbha taking on Tamil Nadu, Haryana up against Mumbai and Saurashtra facing off against Gujarat.
On the other hand, by chasing down 376 against Odisha at Cuttack without losing any wicket, Services entered the record books as the team to complete the second-highest run-chase in the history of the Ranji Trophy and sits behind Railways’ successful chase of 378 against Tripura in Agartala last year.
Suraj Vashisht remained unbeaten on 154 while Shubham Rohilla struck a superb 209 not out off 270 balls. Their unbroken 376-run opening stand is also the second highest partnership in a successful run-chase in the history of first-class cricket.
Chandigarh beat Chhattisgarh by 54 runs in Raipur and clinched six points to finish on 25, which is level with Tamil Nadu and Saurashtra. But Chandigarh narrowly missed out on a spot in the knockouts as Saurashtra (three) and Tamil Nadu (two) have more bonus points, and sealed their spots in the quarter-finals.
Madhya Pradesh took the first-innings lead in a drawn run-fest against Uttar Pradesh in their Group C match in Indore. The game between Karnataka and Haryana ended in a draw in Bengaluru, with the latter already sealing their knockouts spot. The match between Maharashtra and Tripura also ended in a draw in Solapur, with the hosts’ grabbing first innings lead.
–IANS
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