Bengal creates history by breaking a 129-year Record
On the third day of the quarter-final in Bengaluru, the Bengal Ranji cricket team set a global first-class record when all nine batters who took guard achieved half-centuries in a huge first innings score of 773/8 against a hapless Jharkhand. Jharkhand were 139/5 at stumps in their first innings, and with a 634-run deficit, stopping Bengal from reaching the semi-final is nearly impossible.
The encounter will be remembered for a record that has stood the test of time since 1893, when the visiting Australian team scored fifty or more runs in the first-class game versus a combined university (Oxford and Cambridge). Bengal skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran (65) and fellow opener Abhishek Raman started the march towards the milestone (61).
Sudip Gharami (186) and Anushtup Majumdar, the senior-most batter, followed with brilliant knocks (117). For the second wicket, they accumulated 243 runs. Manoj Tiwary (73) of Bengal’s junior sports ministry joined the list, as did Abhishek Porel (68), who has not let Bengal miss Wriddhiman Saha for a single moment.
RCB all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed (78) and Sayan Sekhar Mondal (53) also made half-centuries to complete an Indian innings, but the global first-class record was broken after 129 years when Akash Deep stepped in and hammered 8 sixes in 18 balls.