Ranji Trophy | Jammu & Kashmir bowls out Pondicherry for 67 in 87-run chase

Match winners: J & K spin heroes Abid and Vanshaj.
| Photo Credit: S. Prasanna Venkatesan

Left-arm spinner Vanshaj Sharma completed his maiden ten-wicket match haul on his debut with five for 16, as Jammu & Kashmir bowled out Pondicherry for 67, in its 87-run chase, to win by 19 runs on day three of the elite Group-D match in the sixth round of the Ranji Trophy at the Cricket Association of Pondicherry (CAP) Siechem ground here on Sunday.

Vanshaj had claimed his maiden five-for (five for 74) in Pondicherry’s first innings.

Left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq, who completed his second ten-wicket match haul (five for 64, and five for 28) in First-Class cricket on Saturday to have Pondicherry reduced to 35 for seven, was adjudged the Player-of-the-Match.

With this capitulation, Pondicherry’s quarterfinals qualification chances looks bleak.

Jammu & Kashmir, on the other had, has given itself a shot at qualification. With 18 points, it is now third-placed.

Eleven of Pondicherry’s 32 runs came off extras on the day where play lasted only 12.3 overs.

Pondicherry captain Rohit Damodaran tried to score as quickly as possible. He charged at off-spinner Sahil Lotra and hit a four to the cow corner boundary on the first over of the day.

His partner and left-hander Sidak Singh was caught by Qamran Iqbal at short-leg off Vanshaj on the ninth over. Qamran had to parry and take the catch. In the last ball of that over,

In the tenth over, Rohit played a paddle sweep off Abid for four to the fine-leg boundary.

In the eleventh over, Gaurav edged his shot off Vanshaj, for it to pop up high in the air – Lotra took the catch, running towards cover point from gully.

Rohit was the last wicket to fall on the thirteenth over, as he charged at Vanshaj and missed the ball to be stumped.

In a match that had the then leading wicket-taker of the season Gaurav Yadav and India pacer Umran Malik, pacers bowled only four overs and spinners picked up all the forty wickets.

The scores:

Jammu & Kashmir —1st innings: 106.

Pondicherry —1st innings: 172.

Jammu & Kashmir —2nd innings: 152.

Pondicherry —2nd innings: Paras Ratnaparkhe c Abid b Vanshaj 8, Karthikeyan Jayasundaram c Fazil b Abid 1, Paras Dogra lbw b Abid 12, Akash Kargave lbw b Abid 0, K.B. Arun Karthick c Shubham Singh b Vanshaj 0, Mohit Mittan b Abid 3, Sidak Singh c Qamran b Vanshaj 7, Krishna Pandey c Vivrant b Abid 6, Rohit Damodaran st Fazil b Vanshaj 17, Gaurav Yadav c Lotra b Vanshaj 0, Sagar Udeshi (not out) 2; Extras (b-8, lb-2, nb-1): 11; Total (in 35.3 overs): 67.

Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-11, 3-12, 4-13, 5-22, 6-25, 7-31, 8-56, 9-64.

Jammu & Kashmir bowling: Abid 18-5-28-5, Vanshaj 8.3-2-16-5, Lotra 9-4-13-0.