KOLKATA: Though the beginning of the match as well as the Ranji Trophy campaign was not on a positive note for them, Jharkhand finished their 2023-24 domestic season on a high with an 89-run thrashing of Rajasthan in Jamshedpur on Monday.
This also called for a winning farewell to domestic stars Saurabh Tiwary and Varun Aaron at their homeground – Keenan Stadium, Jharkhand’s only international venue before JSCA International Cricket Stadium in Ranchi hosted its first game in January 2013.
However, as the veterans called it a day – Tiwary from all forms of cricket and former India speedster Aaron in red-ball format – the chief architect of Jharkhand’s win was young Kolkata Knight Riders allrounder Anukul Roy, who bagged his fifth five-wicket haul in their last Group A contest.
The hosts, defending 248, had left Rajasthan tottering at 120 for six in their second innings at stumps on Day 3. And on last day, with Rajasthan still needing 128 more with four wickets in hand, Jharkhand completed the task with the 25-year-old left-arm spinner adding two more wickets to his overnight tally to complete his five-for.
Meanwhile, it was outgoing pacer Aaron (1/22) who provided the first breakthrough in the morning when he returned overnight batter Samarpit Joshi (23) in the third over of the day. Mahipal Lomror, too, could add another 18 runs to his score of 30 before falling prey to Roy, who also cleaned up rival captain Aniket Choudhary for a duck as his fifth victim to complete a memorable win on several counts.
With their second victory of this edition, Jharkhand signed off at sixth spot on the group table above bottom-placed Manipur and Maharashtra.
Brief scores: Jharkhand 188 & 269. Rajasthan 210 & 158 all out in 68.1 overs (M Lomror 48; A Roy 5/36, S Nadeem 3/53). Jharkhand won by 89 runs. Points: Jharkhand 6 Rajasthan 0.
