Welcome to Sportstar‘s coverage of the day 1 of the pre-quarterfinal of the 2021-22 season of the Ranji Trophy between Jharkhand and Nagaland.

Y.B Sarangi: Jharkhand 107/2 in 29 overs at lunch on day one. Shrikant Mundhe removed the other opener Utkarsh Singh by having him caught in the slips just after drinks break. Saurabh Tiwary (24) and Kumar Suraj (18) have added 43 for an unbroken third wicket partnership.

Jharkhand 100/2 in 25 overs: 100 up for Jharkhand. Tiwary and Kumar have rebuilt the innings steadily at a fine rate.

Jharkhand 82/2 in 20 overs: Tiwary has quickly taken charge, moving to 13 off 17 balls with a four and a six.

Jharkhand 64/2 in 15 overs: Jharkhand has lost both openers in the span of six balls. Utkarsh Singh falls to SS Mundhe as skipper Saurabh Tiwary joins Kumar Suraj in the middle.  Utkarsh Singh c Abu Nechim b Mundhe 36(55b, 7*4)

Jharkhand 60/1 in 14 overs | Y.B Sarangi: First wicket for Nagaland. Hopongkyu struck in his first over, made the ball to move beautifully off the desk and take Mohammad Nazim’s outside edge to keeper. Nazim made 28. Utkarsh Singh is batting on 32. Md Nazim c Chetan Bist b Chopise Hopongkyu 28 (35b, 4*4)

Jharkhand 43/0 in 10 overs: The openers continue to build momentum. Raja Swarnkar has been a tad expensive in comparison to fellow pacer Nechim as Jharkhand moves towards the 50-run mark.

Jharkhand 30/0 in 6 overs: Our correspondent YB Sarangi adds his inputs from the venue. There are hints of early seam movement for the Nagaland pacers. However, the openers have negated it to keep the board ticking.

Jharkhand 21/0 in 4 overs: The openers have had their eye in. Utkarsh has moved himself to 16 off 17 deliveries with three fours to his name.

Abu Nechim takes the new ball for Nagaland.  Utkarsh Singh and Nazim Siddiqui open for Jharkhand.

Jharkhand Playing XI: Md Nazim, Utkarsh Singh, Kumar Suraj, Saurabh Tiwary (c), Virat Singh, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Anukul Roy, Shahbaz Nadeem, Ashish Kumar, Sushant Mishra, Rahul Shukla

Nagaland Playing XI: R Jonathan (c), Zhimomi, Sedezhalie, Yugandhar, S S Mundhe, Chetan Bist (wk), Abu Nechim Ahmed, Imliwati, Hopongkyu, Khrievitso, Raja Swarnkar

TOSS: Nagaland wins Toss, opts to field

Match Preview

Jharkhand will carry forward its confidence after toppling two bigger teams and Nagaland will bank on its self-belief as the Plate topper when they lock horns in the lone Ranji Trophy pre-quarterfinal match starting at the Eden Gardens here from Saturday.

After losing its first match to Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand stunned Delhi and Tamil Nadu in Elite Group-H matches in Guwahati to gather 12 points. It missed out on a direct qualification berth as Uttarakhand, which had identical points but a better quotient, made the cut for the quarterfinals.

READ|

Nagaland, which secured three consecutive outright wins including an innings victory here, collected 19 points and earned the right to play with an Elite side for the first time.

The north-eastern state has been seriously working on its cricket development under the guidance of former Hyderabad spinner Kanwaljit Singh. It has succeeded in producing some home grown talent.

“The boys have come a long way. Qualifying (for the knockouts) is a huge incentive for the team,” said coach Kanwaljit.

Nagaland’s progress this season primarily rested on some consistent performers. They included professionals like leading scorers Shrikant Mundhe and Chetan Bist and local players such as captain Rongsen Jonathan, a batter who has also done well in his new role as an off-spinner, left-arm spinner and a handy all-rounder Imliwati Lemtur and top batter Hokaito Zhimomi.

READ|
Sreesanth announces retirement

Kanwalijit feels his team has the adequate resources, including Mundhe, Abu Nechim, Raja Swarnakar and Nagaho Chishi, to make the most of the assistance the Eden track promises.

Jharkhand too has some effective pacers in Rahul Shukla, Ashish Kumar and young left-arm pacer Sushant Mishra who can exploit the conditions.

Experienced spinner Shahbaz Nadeem and his young partner Anukul Roy are there to provide support.

The batters, such as Virat Singh, Utkarsh Singh, Kumar Suraj, Nazim Siddiqui and Saurabh Tiwary, have displayed their capabilities and would like to keep up their good work.

“After beating Delhi and Tamil Nadu, the team’s confidence is high and we want to continue with the winning momentum. We will not take Nagaland, which has also topped its group, lightly,” said Jharkhand coach Satish Singh.

– Y.B. Sarangi
 

Who have made the quarterfinals