Ranji Trophy QFs: 9 Bengal batters score 50-plus vs hapless Jharkhand, break 129-year-old record

The Ranji Trophy knockouts commenced soon after IPL 2022 and there is plenty happening in the quarter-finals. In Bengal versus Jharkhand clash, being held at the Just Cricket Academy Ground, Bengaluru, the Abhimanyu Easwaran-led Bengal have broken a 129-year-old record courtesy of their brilliant batting performance after being asked to bat first.

As many as nine batsmen hit half-centuries for Bengal as they scored a mammoth 773 for 7 declared on Wednesday in the first innings versus a hapless Saurabh Tiwary-led Jharkhand. While two of the nine batsmen returned with centuries -- Sudip Gharami top-scoring with 186 followed by Anustup Majumdar's 117 -- the other seven went past the fifty-run mark. Sayan Mondal and Akash Deep remained unbeaten on 53 each whereas Manoj Tiwary, Shahbaz Ahmed, Abhishek Raman, captain Abhimanyu and wicketkeeper Abishek Porel were dismissed after scoring half-fifty apiece.

Thus, Bengal's innings beat a first-class record that stood rock solid since 1893. Back then, a touring Australian side had made eight half-centuries in an 843-run innings against a combined team from Oxford and Cambridge universities in Portsmouth, England. 

"What a team, what an effort! Proud to be a part of it," batsman Tiwary, who scored 73, wrote on Twitter while sharing a picture with the other eight batters.

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Jharkhand are way behind in the game and it is now virtually impossible for them to stop a rampant Bengal side from qualifying for the semi-finals on the back of a sensational batting display.