Rajkot: On Friday, March 13 the Saurashtra cricket team has first time claimed Ranji Trophy by defeating West Bengal in the final match at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot. The team was announced victorious based on its lead of first inning at the end of fifth day of the match.
Skipper Jaydev Unadkat was the game changer of the match as he had Majmudar LBW and Akash Deep run out. This was crucial turn of the match for Majmudar-Nandi pair had looked reluctant to leave the ground with its sound 98 runs partnership.
Earlier, Saurashtra had scored 425 runs at the end of the 1st innings. Bengal, in response, could score only 381 runs, giving 44 runs lead to the opponent. In the second innings, Saurashtra wound up its score of 105 at the loss of 4 wickets and offered Bengal to bat. When Unadkat took the last wicket of Bengal's second innings, Saurashtra was still leading by 149 runs with six wickets in hand.
Though Bengal could have continued the match as there were still 70 overs remaining after its innings ended, it was not enough for the opposition to bowl out Saurashtra. Therefor the captains on both sides decided to stop the match.
According to the rules, if the final of Ranji Trophy heads towards a draw, the winner is decided on the basis of the lead of first-day innings.
“I still remember my words (last year) and I remember telling you that the brand of cricket we are playing will continue for a few more years and we will win the title sooner than later. We’ve won the trophy for the first time in 73 years and I couldn’t be happier,” Saurashtra captain Jaydev Unadkat said while celebrating the victory.
The winning of the Ranji Trophy matters a lot for the Saurashtra players as the team had reached twice in the Ranji Trophy final and lost to Mumbai on both occasions.
No comments:
Post a Comment