Srinagar: The J&K senior cricket team lost their second match in a row on Thursday in the Ranji Trophy competition as Gujarat outplayed them at Narendra Modi Stadium Ground ‘A’, Motera, Ahmedabad.
In the match, Gujarat beat J&K by nine wickets on the third day of the play to secure a crushing win. J&K in its second inning got all out for 182 run total thus setting a target of mere 11 runs to win for Gujarat. The hosts achieved that for the loss of one wicket. It is the second defeat out of two matches played for the J&K side in this season’s Ranji Trophy. In its first match, J&K suffered an inning defeat against Madhya Pradesh.
Earlier third days play started with J&K resuming its second inning from an overnight total of 83/3, still trailing Gujarat by 89 runs. The whole side got all out for 182 run total with a lead of only 10 runs secured. Henan Malik with 43 was the highest scorer for J&K while Vivrant Sharma scored 41. SA Desai once again was the star performer for Gujarat, taking eight wickets in the inning and a total of 14 in the match.
Gujarat needed 11 runs to secure a crushing win. They achieved the target for the loss of one wicket, thus missing a bonus point. The only wicket to fall in the innings was that of PK Panchal who got out for nought, clean bowled by Abid Mushtaq.
Earlier batting first Gujarat got all out for 307 run total in their first inning. SD Chauhan top scored 73, and Karthan Patel scored 54. For J&K, Abid Mushtaq took four wickets while Sahil Lotra and Auqib Nabi took two each. Star pacer Umran Malik took one.
In reply, J&K got all out for 135 run total in the first innings. Fazil Rashid with 51 not out was the highest scorer for J&K while Suryansh Raina scored 27. Umran Malik was the next-best scorer with 18. For Gujarat, SA Desai took a six-wicket haul while HP Patel took two. J&K were forced to follow on.
So far this season, J&K batting has failed completely in both matches with the opposition securing almost an innings win in both matches. The continued failure of skipper Shubham Pundir is a big worry for the side and team management needs to take a tough call on him.
The absence of star duo Abdul Samad and Parvez Rasool is also hurting the team badly. Their absence is visible with the middle order lacking depth. While Samad is injured, Parvez has been dropped without any reason from the team. The star pacer Umran Malik looked listless in the match. Though he bowled with full of pace, but couldn’t penetrate the defences of Gujarat batters.