Bengal set an astonishing record during the Ranji Trophy 2021-22 quarter-finals against Jharkhand on Wednesday. Bengal’s batsmen put up a collective show to post a mammoth score of 773/7 against Jharkhand in the first innings. It was a field day for the opposition as nine Bengal batsmen scored 50-plus runs in script history.
This is the first time in first-class cricket that nine batsmen of a team have scored more than fifty in an innings. Interestingly, only nine batsmen got to bat for Bengal and none of them missed the crucial quarter-finals.
Read also | ‘This journey ends but other beckons’: Mithali Raj announces retirement from international cricket
Sudip Gharami and Anustup Majumdar were the two batsmen who made it big and converted their fifties into three-figure scores. Gharami scored 186 runs in the first innings for Bengal. While Majumdar scored 117 runs.
To accelerate the scoring rate, 23-year-old Gharami’s stay in the middle ended with a controversial decision, after which Bengal turned the ball for another two instead of scoring runs quickly and declaring their first innings.
With this knock, Gharami, son of a labor contractor who used to borrow money from relatives to buy him cricket equipment, reiterated the trust shown in him by head coach Arun Lal.
Read also | Mithali Raj Retirement: 10 Major Records That Throw Light On Her 26 Year Long Cricket Career
There were no signs of haste from Bengal and it remains to be seen how long they bat on the third day.
The unique record was previously held by the Australian team, whose eight batsmen had scored at least half-centuries against Oxford and Cambridge University. The mass record was set in 1893.
However, on Wednesday, Akash Deep played a stellar knock to help Bengal achieve the massive feat. The lower order batsman scored 53 runs in just 18 balls in which he hit 8 sixes.
For Jharkhand, Sushant Mishra took three wickets, while Shahbaz Nadeem took only two wickets.
Whereas the Bengal bowlers also supported their batsmen well and they reduced Jharkhand to 139/5 at stumps on Day 3. Sion Mandal took three wickets while all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed took two swoops.
Get all the latest updates cricket news, cricket pictures, cricket videos, IPL 2022 Live Updates And cricket score Here