Jharkhand defeated former champions Tamil Nadu by an innings and 114 runs, with debutant off-spinner Rishav Raj turning the dream fourth day of the Ranji Trophy Group A clash performance. The 24-year-old off-spinner in his first match in the Ranji Trophy circuit, picked up four wickets to make it a commanding win for Jharkhand.
After Tamil Nadu were forced to follow on as a result of their batting collapse on Friday, it was only a matter of time before Jharkhand got the victory. Rishav, who had dismantled the batting of a teenage opener on Day 3 and thus had a great impact on the game, came back and bowed out with brilliant debut figures of 4 for 49.
Jharkhand bowlers dominate as Tamil Nadu crumble again
After Jharkhand thoroughly dismantled Tamil Nadu for a mere 93, they had no qualms about sending them back in the follow-on. The visitors were bowled out for 212 in 79 overs in their second innings as well, thus, Ishan Kishan’s team won by a very big margin and got a bonus point. The 173 explosive innings of Kishan earned him the Player of the Match award.
Tamil Nadu were on their last legs when they came out to bat on the final day and managed to add only 11 runs before 17-year-old debutant Jeganathan Hemchudeshan was dismissed by Sahil Raj (2/28), who in the end, had 6 wickets in the match. Shortly, veteran batter Baba Indrajith (22) was also gone after Rishav’s vicious turn got the better of him and he was caught by Shikhar Mohan.
The only resistance was mounted by C Andre Siddarth who scored a steady 80 off 180 balls (12 fours). His 100-run partnership with M Shahrukh Khan (37) helped Tamil Nadu to a certain extent as they went from 93/5 to 193 before left-arm spinner Anukul Roy (3/42) got the wicket. After the partnership was ended, the tail was on its way to the pavilion very quickly as the last three wickets fell for just 14 runs and injured Balasubramaniam Sachin did not bat.
(With PTI Inputs)
