The match between Bengal and Jharkhand in the 2022 Ranji Trophy – bear with me here – was something of a curiosity. Jharkhand won the toss, decided to field and came to regret it immensely: Bengal’s openers both got half-centuries, their next two batters both reached triple figures and then numbers five, six, seven and eight all eased past 50. Akash Deep, scourge of England on this third day at the Oval, came out at No 9.
His was a first-class innings in name only: he faced 18 balls and hit eight of them for six (it stands as the joint 15th fastest half-century in the long-form game) as he careened to 53. By which point they were well into day three, the team’s score was an unnecessarily healthy 773 for seven, and Bengal declared.
