OTD: A dubious record was set when Jharkhand ended up 1008 runs ahead of Nagaland in preliminary quarter-final of Ranji Trophy in 2022

This article will On This Day A dubious record was set when Jharkhand ended up 1008 runs ahead of Nagaland in preliminary quarter-final of the Ranji Trophy in 2022. Since more states have been included in the Indian first-class circuit, we have witnessed some bizarre and mind-blowing records being made in the Ranji Trophy. On this day in 2022 one such record was made in the preliminary quarter final between Jharkhand and Nagaland. Jharkhand took a massive 1008-run lead in the preliminary quarter-final as they won the match based on first innings lead. 

First Innings 

Winning the toss, Nagaland elected to field first. But this decision proved to be expensive as Jharkhand exploited a relatively weak Nagaland bowling attack. However, Nagaland started on a good note in the first innings with early breakthroughs to make some inroads. At one point, Jharkhand were in a spot of bother with 186/4 on the board. But the newcomers could not take advantage of this and conceded the control of the game to the opposition. 

The middle-order duo of Virat Singh and Kumar Kushagra added 175 runs to put their team in a comfortable position. After Virat’s departure, Kushagra stitched another partnership with Anukul Roy who scored 59 runs. The final nail in the coffin for Nagaland was Shahbaz Nadeem’s partnership with Kumar Kushagra. Kushagra completed his double century whereas, Nadeem ended up with 177 runs to carry Jharkhand to an astronomical total of 880 runs. 

With the ball, Jharkhand created early pressure on Nagaland. The new ball bowlers reduced Nagaland to 99/4. Chetan Bisht showed steel in order to avoid embarrassment. However, his century could not rescue his team as none of the other batters could show the same resolve. Jharkhand bowled Nagaland out for 289 runs to take an unprecedented lead. 

Second Innings

The match was already in Jharkhand’s grip as the first innings lead almost ascertained their victory. But there were no signs of complacency among Jharkhand batters as they kept on piling runs before the match ended in a stalemate. In the second innings, Jharkhand scored 417 runs at the loss of 6 wickets before the teams agreed to end the match. Jharkhand had a lead of 1008 runs at the end of the match, the highest-ever lead in the history of first-class cricket.