Jammu, Nov 15: After a great display of bowling skills by almost all the J&K bowlers led by Speedster Auqib Nabi, the batters led by promising Vivrant Sharma and talented Abid Mushtaq showed serenity, composure, promise, sublimity, solidity and what and what not and held their nerves when it mattered the most in pressure cooker scenario, thus powered Jammu and Kashmir to a clinical and much needed victory over formidable Tripura on a bowling friendly track in the ongoing Ranji Trophy Elite Group-A match at JKCA Hostel ground here on Friday.
This win has made Jammu and Kashmir one of the favourites alongwith Baroda and Mumbai to be part of the knockout stage. J&K has earned 6 points from this win and has taken its points tally to 23 points in five outings so far in the tournament.
Chasing a victory target of 202 runs J&K rode on a batting brilliance by the quartet of Vivrant Sharma, Abid Mushtaq, Shubham Khajuria and Abdul Samad to chase it in 56 overs, losing 6 wickets in the process, thus winning the match by 4 wickets.
Vivrant top scored with magnificent unbeaten 60 runs off 133 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes, while Abid Mushtaq contributed power-packed 53 runs off equal number of balls with 4 sixes and 4 fours.
Abdul Samad (35), Shubham Khajuria (25) and skipper Paras Dogra (15) contributed to the winning cause. The duo of Vivrant and Abid played a crucial role in J&K win after they were toterring at 112/6.
MB Mura Singh and Parvez Sultan took 2 wickets each for Tripura, while AK Sarkar claimed one wicket.
Meanwhile, resuming from 170/7, Tripura scored 211 in the second essay, thus setting a victory target of 202 runs for the hosts. Wicketkeeper batsman S Sharath top scored with 61 runs, while Jeevanjot Singh and MB Murali Singh contributed 45 and 32 runs to the total respectively.
For J&K, the first innings hero Auqib Nabi captured 4 wickets, while Abid Mushtaq and Yudhvir Singh claimed 3 wickets each.
Earlier, continuing his devastating form with the ball, Auqib Nabi emerged as the standout bowler for Jammu & Kashmir and alongwith artistic seamer Rasikh Salam plotted collapse of the Manipur team, while in reply Shubham Khajuria stood tall in difficult conditions and scored magnificent 57 runs to help J&K score 175 runs and gain a 10-run lead.
MB Mura Singh captured 5 wickets while AK Sarkar bagged 3 and Rana Dutta claimed 2 wickets for Tripura
Earlier on day-1, J&K bowlers hit the right areas from the word go and put the rival batters in trouble, thus plotting their (Tripura’s) collapse for paltry 165 runs in 50.3 overs.
Skipper Mandeep Singh top scored with 67 runs off 122 balls studded with 7 delectable boundaries, while Tajasvi Jaiswal and MB Mura Singh contributed 33 and 25 runs to the total respectively.
For J&K, Auqib Nabi was the wrecker-in-chief, who captured 6 wickets by conceding 54 runs in 16 overs, while Rasikh Salam bagged 3 wickets by giving away 26 runs in 7.3 overs. Left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq also claimed one wicket.
“Congratulations J&K for a splendid win against Tripura in the Ranji Trophy match played at Hostel ground Jammu. With a day to spare J&K beat Tripura by 4 wickets,” tweeted Brig Anil Gupta, Member-Administration JKCA.
