Rajasthan beat Jammu & Kashmir, earn first win in 12 Ranji Trophy matches

Nov 4 (AZINS) Team Rajasthan sealed victory by 75 runs against Jammu & Kashmir in the Elite Group C match of the Ranji Trophy at SMS Stadium on Sunday. It is the team’s first win in 12 Ranji matches as it was against Assam in the season 2016-17 that the team had registered a victory.

J&K started from the overnight score of 34 at the loss of no wicket and chief tormentor of the previous day leg-spinner Rahul Chahar (4 wkts) and Nathu Singh (4 wkts) struck in tandem to get rid of the visitors'  top-order.

Just when the visitors looked in disarray, their captain Parvez Rasool rose on the occasion and slammed a gritty knock of 110 not out making life difficult for Rajasthan. Rasool's dominance was such that at one stage the prospect of winning the match looked like a distant dream.

Just before 45 minutes of getting the match over, Tanvir-ul-Haq (2 wkts) worked up his magic to dismiss Fasil Rashid who edged and gave an easy catch at first slip. Soon after Tanvir-ul-Haq uprooted the middle stump of the tail-ender Umar Nazir. The remaining two batsmen were sent packing by Nathu Singh.

Centurion of the first innings Chetan Bist was given the Player of the Match award for scoring a splendid knock of 159.

Team Rajasthan captain Mahipal Lomror credited his bowlers for the victory. "It was a team effort, but I will give more credit to the bowlers as it was a batting pitch. When Parvez Rasool was batting, I was a bit nervous as he was putting up a great fight and it was then that the bowlers helped the team cross the winning line," Mahipal conceded.

Vice-captain of J&K Irfan Pathan was all praise for Rasool and appreciated his team's effort. "We gave a tough fight, but I think it was in the first session where we couldn't score much runs and that cost us the match," Pathan said.

Rajasthan has opened its account with 6 points and will now take on Services on November 12 at the SMS Stadium.