Ranji Trophy 2019/20: Jharkhand Secures Historical Victory Against Tripura
Dec 14, 2019 at 5:05 AM
On last Thursday (12th December), Jharkhand created history in Ranji Trophy. While they beat Tripura by 54 runs, it was the first time in Ranji Trophy history when a team won after they were forced to follow-on.
In Test cricket history, only three times have happened when a team won after a follow-on. While England did that twice, India achieved that once, and Australia were the only unlucky team who suffered defeats in all those three matches.
All the Indian cricket fans will never forget India’s historic Test victory at Eden Gardens (Kolkata) in 2001 as they beat strong Australian side despite facing the follow-on. Jharkhand recently recreated that historical scene during their opening game of Ranji Trophy 2019/20 against Tripura at Agartala.
At the end of their first innings, Jharkhand were trailing by 153 runs
The visitors Jharkhand decided to field first after winning the toss in that game. While the hosts Tripura scored 289 runs in the first innings, the visiting side replied with just 136 runs before losing all wickets in their first innings. Leading by 153 runs in that four-day game, Tripura enforced the follow-on on Jharkhand, which Jharkhand could avoid if they scored four more runs in their first innings.
Jharkhand were once again struggling in their following-on innings but twin centuries changed the entire situation of that game. The lower middle-order batsmen captain Saurabh Tiwary and Ishank Jaggi scored 122 not out and 107 not out respectively. Their batting helped the visitors to manage the total of 418/8 before the declaration.
Chasing down the fourth-innings target of 266 runs, Tripura suffered a batting collapse at the early moment as they once struggling on 49/6. Though the lower-order batsman Manisankar Murasingh fought hard till the end and scored a brilliant century, finally Tripura were bundled out for 211 runs. Murasingh scored 103 runs, but it couldn’t stop Jharkhand to win that match as they beat Tripura by 54 runs. In that fourth innings, the right-arm medium pacer Ashish Kumar (5/67) claimed a five-wicket haul.