Jharkhand inflicted a massive innings defeat on Nagaland to earn a bonus point as left-arm spinner Anukul Roy returned a career-best match haul of 13 wickets in a Ranji Trophy game, here on Tuesday. A day after Roy grabbed a career-best innings haul of eight wickets (8/55) to dismiss Nagaland for 154 in response to Jharkhand’s 510 for 8 declared, the 26-year-old ripped through the opponent’s batting lineup in the second essay as well with 5/35 as they won by an innings and 196 runs in their Elite Group A game.
Nagaland, who were asked to follow-on on and were reduced to 104 for 5 at stumps on day three, did not have the wherewithal to ward off a combative Jharkhand bowling attack. Roy, who had started the demolition work on day three by taking two second-innings wickets with compatriot slow-bowler Manishi grabbing the other three, came back to finish off Nagaland’s resistance in no time. Nagaland could add just 56 runs to their overnight total as their innings folded up at 160 in 57.4 overs.
Manishi, who had got just one wicket for his effort in the first innings, took four more in the second as he returned match figures of 5/103. Between them, the two left-arm spinner accounted for 18 wickets. Nagaland lacked the resistance they showed against Tamil Nadu in the previous Ranji game where they fought doggedly to take the game to a hard-fought draw with Dega Nischal and Imliwati Lemtur crafting big centuries.
Opener Nischal did put up a fight in the first innings by scoring 41 but was dismissed for just two runs in the second. Nagaland skipper Rongsen Jonathan was the highest scorer in the second innings with a combative 50 and no other batter could stand up to the spin duo who looked virtually unplayable.
Brief Scores:
In Ranchi: Jharkhand 510 for 8 decl in 105 overs beat Nagaland 154 all out in 73.5 overs & (f/o) 160 all out in 57.4 overs (Rongsen Jonathan 50, Manishi 4/62, Anukul Roy 5/35) by an innings and 196 runs.
In Cuttack: Andhra 475 for 7 decl in 123.1 overs beat Odisha 151 all out in 56.4 overs & (f/o) 274 in 104.2 overs (Gourav Choudhury 80, Sandeep Pattnaik 63; Tripurana Vijay 3/89, Saurabh Kumar 47) by an innings and 50 runs.
In Vadodara: Match between Baroda and Uttar Pradesh abandoned without a ball bowled.
In Coimbatore: Tamil Nadu 291 & 233/6 in 89 overs (Baba Indrajith 77 not out; Praful Hinge 46) vs Vidarbha 501 all out in 148.4 overs.
