Historic feat: J&K storms into 1st-ever semis of prestigious Bucchi Babu Tournament

Chennai, Aug 24: Continuing its brilliance, the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association’s (JKCA’s) Senior Men’s team after its outstanding show in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group last season, sealed the first-ever semifinal spot in the prestigious Bucchi Babu Invitation Cricket Tournament, being organised by Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) at T1 Murugappa, Chennai.According to a statement issued here, promising left-arm spinner, Vanshaj Sharma, who emerged as the Player of the Match, was the star performer with the ball, while Abid Mushtaq displayed an all-round show and the quartet of Qamran Iqbal, Musaif Ajaz, Yawar Hassan and Vivrant Sharma    were superb with the willow. All in all, a top-class team effort. Earlier, resuming from an overnight score of 4/0, Baroda batters managed to score 182 runs in 45 overs, losing 9 wickets in the process, thus setting a target of 79 runs for J&K to clinch an outright victory. Pradip Yadav (38), Harsh Desai (32), Sukirt Pandey (28), Nitya Pandya (22) and Dhruv B Patel (20) were the main contributors.For J&K, left-arm spinners–consistent Vanshaj Sharma and experienced Abid Mushtaq captured 4 wickets each, while off-spinner Sahil Lotra claimed one wicket. J&K openers–makeshift Vivrant Sharma and dependable Yawar Hassan chased the target in style, scoring unconquered 82 runs in 24.2 overs, thus guiding the team to a 10-wicket victory to earn a bonus point. They defeated Baroda by 10 wickets and in the first match they beat Indian Railways team by 9 wickets. They are on top of the points table with (13 Points) in their group,” tweeted Member Administration JKCA Brig Anil Gupta. Member Cricket Operations and Development JKCA, Mithun Manhas termed the victory as a landmark achievement, guiding J&K to first-ever semifinal spot in this tournament.