MUMBAI: Jammu and Kashmir secured one of the most memorable wins in their history when they shocked reigning Ranji champions Madhya Pradesh by two wickets in a high-scoring Vijay Hazare Trophy Group D match at the DY Patil Stadium here on Saturday.
Opener Yash Dubey slammed a run-a-ball 121 (13x4s), while his opening partner Abhishek Bhandari made 74 (81b; 9x4s, 2x6s) as Madhya Pradesh posted a mammoth 342 for 9 after being asked to bat.
But Jammu and Kashmir pulled off a heist as half-centuries from opener Vivrant Sharma (69), Henan Nazir (68) and Abdul Samad (66) laid the foundation before Abid Mushtaq played a terrific counter-attacking knock of 42 from 19 balls to set up the victory.
Mushtaq smashed three sixes and as many boundaries, taking on the likes of Avesh Khan and Kuldeep Sen. But there was drama in store when Avesh (3/86) dismissed him in the 47th with Jammu and Kashmir still needing 31 off 21 balls.
Sahil Lotra (23 not out from 11b; 4x4s) held his nerves to seal the chase with four balls to spare.
Auqib Nabi (11 not out; 9 balls, 1×4) lent a fine support as the duo held on after Mushtaq’s dismissal in a match-winning 34-run unbroken partnership for the ninth wicket.
But at the innings break, it looked an improbable chase for Jammu and Kashmir batters who started on a watchful note.
Opener Sharma and Jatin Wadhwan (17) put on 81 runs from as many balls but off-spinner Saransh Jain dismissed both the batters with the addition of just 19 runs to derail their chase.
They were staring down the barrel after skipper Shubham Pundir (6) got out cheaply as they needed 230 runs from 167 balls.
But Samad did the damage control in a 117-run partnership with Nazir. Avesh dismissed both of them in addition of just 11 runs.
Thereafter, it was Mushtaq who played a perfect counter-attacking knock to keep Jammu and Kashmir in the hunt.
In Group D, Baroda climbed to the top of the table, followed by Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir on net-run rate.
Brief Scores:
Madhya Pradesh 342/9 in 50 overs (Yash Dubey 121, Abhishek Bhandari 74, Rajat Patidar 62; Auqib Nabi 3/76, Sharukh Dar 3/66, Abid Mushtaq 2/43) lost to Jammu and Kashmir 346/8; 49.2 overs (Vivrant Sharma 69, Henan Nazir 68, Abdul Samad 66, Abid Mushtaq 42, Sahil Lotra 23 not out; Avesh Khan 3/86, Saransh Jain 2/47) by two wickets.
Odisha 178 in 44.2 overs (Subhranshu Senapati 60, Anshy Rath 51; Himanshu Bisht 4/26, Rajan Kumar 3/24) lost to Uttarakhand 179/6; 42 overs (Dikshanshu Negi 80 not out, Swapnil Singh 48; Debabrata Pradhan 2/20, Rajesh Mohanty 2/36) by four wickets.
Baroda 259 in 50 overs (Atit Sheth 87, Vishnu Solanki 39; Akash Singh 5/38, Nagaho Chishi 2/50) b Nagaland 92; 30.3 overs (Shrikant Mundhe 23; Ninad Rathva 3/11, Bhargav Bhatt 2/6, Lukman Meriwala 2/10, Abhimanyusingh Rajput 2/31) by 159 runs. (PTI)
