Kamal Ghorui
Mohammed Shami struck with two incisive spells on Monday to claim three wickets, but Jammu and Kashmir battled their way to 198 for 5 against Bengal on Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy semi-final. The contest remains evenly poised heading into the third day.Bengal were bowled out for 328 after resuming at 249 for 5. Auqib Nabi (5/87 in 26 overs) completed another five-wicket haul and also reached the milestone of 50 wickets in this Ranji Trophy season.
In-form batter Sudip Kumar Gharami, who was unbeaten on 136 overnight, added just 10 more runs before Nabi trapped him in front with one that tailed in slightly. Veteran Sumanta Gupta (39 off 36 balls) played aggressively, but the hosts failed to capitalise as Nabi and left-arm seamer Sunil Kumar (3/41 in 20 overs) used the second new ball effectively.Jammu and Kashmir endured a shaky start with Shami producing a probing opening spell. Shubham Khajuria (3) and Tawer Hussain (2) were both trapped plumb in front, while Shubham Pundir edged Mukesh Kumar to Sudip Chatterjee in the slips. At 13 for 3, J&K were in deep trouble.Skipper Paras Dogra (58 off 112) and young IPL star Abdul Samad (82 off 85) then mounted a spirited counter-attack, stitching together a 143-run stand for the fourth wicket. Samad took on Shami (3/60 in 13 overs) and Mukesh (2/40 in 13 overs) with a flurry of boundaries, while Dogra held firm at the other end. Dogra also completed 10,000 Ranji Trophy runs during his knock.Bengal lost momentum under Abhimanyu Easwaran’s defensive captaincy. As Samad began to dominate, Easwaran spread the field and introduced Shahbaz Ahmed (0/19 in 8 overs), who failed to create wicket-taking opportunities. The presence of long-off, deep extra cover and deep mid-wicket allowed the batters to rotate strike freely. All-rounder Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal, the third pacer, lacked pace and proved the easiest to negotiate.With Dogra and Samad in control, Easwaran refrained from giving short bursts to Shami or Akash Deep — a move that might have shifted the momentum.Shami eventually returned to break the stand, having Samad caught by Akash Deep. Dogra, solid until then, later fell to Mukesh with Suraj Sindhu taking the catch.From a commanding 156 for 3, J&K slipped to 156 for 5 before Abid Mushtaq (26 not out) and Kanhaiya Wadhawan (10 not out) added an unbeaten 42 runs for the sixth wicket.Brief Scores: Bengal 1st Innings 328 in 97.1 overs (Sudip Kumar Gharami 146, Abhimanyu Easwaran 49, Auqib Nabi 5/87) vs J&K 1st Innings 198/5 in 51 overs (Abdul Samad 82, Paras Dogra 58, Mohammed Shami 3/60).
