File photo of Jharkhand's Kumar Kushagra in the Ranji Trophy 2021-22.
Jharkhand sealed their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal berth here on Wednesday but not before making a mockery of their knock-out fixture against minnows Nagaland.
In pursuit of giving their young batters some "practice" for the quarterfinal which is slated about three months from now, the Saurabh Tiwary-led side ended up scoring a match aggregate of 1297 runs.
Jharkhand, who had batted first in the match, had already sealed their last-eight berth after taking a massive 591-run first innings lead but did not enforce a follow-on against the northeastern side, who were all out for 289 in their first innings.
Resuming the fifth and final day on 132/2 in their second innings, with an overall lead of 723 runs, Jharkhand called off the proceedings much to the delight of Nagaland bowlers midway into the second session.
Just when their first innings double-centurion Kumar Kushagra got out for 89 (104 balls; 9x4, 3x6) in the third ball of the 91st over, both the teams shook hands.
Jharkhand made 417/6 in their second essay, an overall lead of 1008 -- the highest in the history of first-class cricket.
The match witnessed three centuries and one double ton from Jharkhand batters and on the final day, overnight batter Anukul Roy followed up his first innings 59 with a brisk 159 (164b; 14x4, 7x6). This was his second first-class hundred.
The Plate group toppers Nagaland had to toil hard, remaining on the field for most part of the five-day game and ended up bowling more than 294 overs.
Justifying his side's decision, skipper Tiwary had said on Tuesday that they wanted to give their young batters some practice as first innings lead was enough to book a quarterfinal berth for them.
Jharkhand thus joined the seven Elite group toppers -- Bengal, Mumbai, Karnataka, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand -- who have already qualified for the quarterfinals.
The Ranji Trophy quarterfinals will be held after the upcoming IPL.
The fixtures are yet to be announced.
Brief Scores:
Jharkhand 880 and 417/6 in 90.3 overs (Anukul Roy 153, Kumar Kushagra 89, Utkarsh Singh 73; Rongsen Jonathan 3/109).
Nagaland 289.
Match drawn. Jharkhand qualified for quarterfinals on first innings lead.
(Reported by PTI)
