Auqib Nabi and Vanshaj Sharma stole the thunder and the match from Hyderabad as Jammu & Kashmir pulled off a sensational three-wicket victory in their Vijay Hazare Trophy match at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot on Thursday.
Chasing 269 for victory, J&K were literally in the dumps as they were reduced to 90 for seven. They had three wickets in hand and needed 179 more for victory. No one gave them a chance in such a scenario but No.8 bat Nabi and No.9 bat Sharma defied all odds to script one of the most remarkable rearguard actions seen in recent times.
The duo also had to contend against Mohd Siraj and CV Milind, who had grabbed the first four wickets to put J&K on the backfoot. Nabi and Sharma not only negotiated them but also scored at a brisk pace. They never let the run-rate bother them as they kept pace. In the end, J&K reached 272 with 2.1 overs to spare.
Nabi struck a quickfire unbeaten 114 off just 82 balls and it contained 10 hits to the fence and seven over it. Sharma remained not out on 69 off 78 balls with seven fours and three sixes. They shared a remarkable 182-run partnership for the unbroken eighth wicket. Nabi contributing 106 of those off 72 balls and Sharma making 69 off 78 balls.
Even though it was an inconsequential tie in terms of making the knock-out stage, Nabi and Sharma batted as if their lives depended on it.
Siraj trapped skipper Shubham Khajuria (22) and then had the other opener Dikshant Kundal (4) caught by Rakshann Readdi to reduce J&K to 35 for two. Skipper Milind then got rid of Yawer Hassan (20) and Kawal Preet Singh (10) to further reduce J&K’s chances as they were reeling at 63 for four. Sahil Lotra (4) was run out by Varun Goud and Vivrant Sharma (13) fell to Nitin Sai Yadav. Readdi then had Abid Mushtaq (4) to leave J&K tottering at 90 for seven.
Thereafter, Hyderabad were at the receiving end from the willows of Nabi and Sharma.
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Earlier, Hyderabad went into the game without the services of skipper Tilak Varma who underwent an operation on Wednesday.
Aman Rao and Rahul Singh strung a 64-run partnership for the opening wicket to put Hyderabad on a strong wicket. After Rahul fell for a 36-ball 56 with eight fours and two sixes, Aman was joined by Abhirath Reddy.
The duo continued in the same vein as the J&K bowlers proved ineffective. They added 65 more to the total before Abid Mushtaq struck twice to get rid of Abhirath (19) and Aman. Aman, who had made 200 in the previous game, was out for 60 off 77 balls with four fours and three sixes.
Thereafter, things changed as J&K bowlers came back strongly into the game. Barring K Nitesh Reddy, who made an unbeaten 54 off 61 balls with six fours, none of the other batters stayed long enough at the wicket to make it count. Hyderabad finished with 268 for nine.
Auqib Nabi named Player of the Match for his all-round performance
Auqib Nabi took three for 56 and Abid Mushtaq bagged two for 50. Auqib Nabi was named the Player of the Match for his all-round performance.
Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh from Group A, Uttar Pradesh and Vidarbha from Group B, Punjab and Mumbai from Group C and Delhi and Saurashtra from Group D qualified for the knock-outs. Hyderabad finished sixth in the eight-team Group B with eight points. They won two out of the seven games played. J&K, by virtue of this win, finished fifth with 12 points.
SCOREBOARD
Hyderabad: Aman Rao c sub (Muzaffar) b Mushtaq 60, Rahul Singh b Yudhvir 56, Abhirath Rreddy st Kundal b Mushtaq 19, Pragnay Reddy b Lotra 16, Varun Goud c & b Vanshaj 12, K Nitesh Reddy (not out) 54, C V Milind run out (Khajuria) 6, Pranav Varma c & b Nabi 14, Mohd Siraj c Lotra b Nabi 6, Nitin Sai Yadav c sub (Dogra) b Nabi 6, Rakshann Readdi (not out) 1; Extras: (NB1, W11, LB6) 18. Total: (For nine wickets in 50 overs) 268.
Fall of wickets: 1-64, 2-129, 3-142, 4-162, 5-173, 6-198, 7-228, 8-246, 9-256.
Bowling: Auqib Nabi 10-0-56-3, Yudhvir Singh 5-0-50-1, Sunil Kumar 7-0-39-0, Vanshaj Sharma 10-0-29-1, Abid Mushtaq 10-0-50-2, Sahil Lotra 8-0-38-1.
Jammu & Kashmir: Dikshant Kundal c Readdi b Siraj 4, Shubham Khajuria lbw Siraj 22, Yawer Hassan c Pragnay b Milind 20, Kawal Preet Singh c Pragnay b Milind 10, Vivrant Sharma c Siraj b Yadav 13, Sahil Lotra run out (Varun) 4, Abid Mushtaq c Pragnay b Readdi 4, Auqib Nabi (not out) 114, Vanshaj Sharma (not out) 69; Extras: (NB2, W8, B1, LB1) 12. Total: (For seven wickets in 47.5 overs) 272.
Fall of wickets: 1-29, 2-35, 3-56, 4-63, 5-73, 6-78, 7-90.
Bowling: Mohd Siraj 10-2-45-2, CV Milind 8-0-54-2, Rakshann Readdi 9-0-47-1, Nitin Sai Yadav 10-0-40-1, Pranav Varma 6.5-0-45-0, K Nitesh Reddy 3-0-17-0, Varun Goud 1-0-22-0.
