Nabi’s nine-for overshadows Shami’s 8-90 as J-K take control vs Bengal

Auqib Nabi delivered a performance to remember claiming a ninewicket match haul as his counterattacking 42 at No 9 has put Jammu and Kashmir on the cusp of a historic maiden Ranji Trophy final appearance after bundling out Bengal for 99 on day three here on TuesdayEven a superb effort from an outoffavour Mohammed Shami who returned with careerbest figures of 890 from 221 overs could not prevent Bengals slide as the home team collapsed inexplicably in a little over one session lasting just twoandahalf hours 251 overs to be preciseSet a modest 126run target Jammu and Kashmir reached 432 at stumps needing 83 more runs with two full days remaining Jammu and Kashmir lost Shubham Khajuria 1 and Yawer Hasan 6 to Akash Deep in successive overs but lefthander Shubham Pundir looked composed in his unbeaten 23 off 37 balls striking four crisp boundariesRookie Vanshaj Sharma promoted to No 4 after his secondinnings fifty batting at No 6 in the quarterfinal win against Madhya Pradesh remained solid on nine off 25 balls The unbeaten pair walked back to a standing ovation from the Jammu and Kashmir camp calm and assured with history within touching distanceBengal despite home advantage now require an extraordinary turnaround to keep their final hopes alive as they would have some sleepless nights in the offing Resuming the day precariously at 1985 Jammu and Kashmir were lifted by Shamis relentless burst Though not at peak fitness and operating mostly in the mid 130kph range he was disciplined and relentless exploiting the fifthstump channel with clinical seam movementHe removed Abid Mushtaq 27 and Kanhaiya Wadhawan 29 to complete his third fivewicket haul of the season and 15th overall in 97 firstclass matches However just when Bengal appeared poised to secure a commanding firstinnings lead Nabi the leading wickettaker of the season turned the tide with a 42 from 54 balls studded with one six and five fours No 10 Yudhvir Singh played a perfect support with 33 from 42 balls 2x4 2x6 as the ninthwicket pair added 64 runs from 76 balls a partnership worth the weight of goldIt proved matchdefining in the end as they took the team from 2697 as Jammu and Kashmir narrowed the deficit to just 30 in quick time shifting the momentum decisively Shami wrapped up the innings at 302 finishing with 890 yet Nabis 42 had already ensured the visitors had their hope intact going into the changeoverIf Shami gave Bengal hope in the morning it was Nabi who extinguished it in the afternoon with leftarm slow medium Sunil Kumar 427 from 91 overs providing perfect support Nabi struck in his first over of Bengals second innings trapping Sudip Chatterjee lbw for a firstball duck The review could not save the opener who registered a pair in the matchSoon after Sunil removed the first innings centurion Sudip Kumar Gharami fresh from his 299 against Andhra in the previous match at this venue But he went for a threeball duck as Bengal burned another review The home sides top three including skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran managed just five runs On a pitch that had eased out considerably the lack of application from Easwaran was glaring Nabi found his pads for just five and may have decisively ended the Dehradun lads chances of wearing the India Test capEaswaran has now played 11 innings in knockout games for Bengal QF sermis and final in past six years and has failed miserably in each and every game Nabi led from the front with figures of 4 for 36 from 10 overs including the prized scalp of EaswaranHe later cleaned up Habib Gandhi with an incoming delivery that sent the leg stump cartwheeling With this effort Nabi who took 587 in the first innings took his match haul to nine wickets taking his seasons tally to 55 wickets from 16 innings at an average of under 13 Sunil cleverly set traps including a deep midwicket ploy that accounted for Sumanta Gupta and Akash DeepYudhvir chipped in with two wickets as the threepronged pace attack shared all 10 scalps For Bengal playing at home with a rare opportunity to host a final and chase their first title since 198990 the collapse was both sudden and damaging After bowling Jammu and Kashmir out for 302 courtesy Shamis eightwicket burst they showed little resistance with the bat when it mattered most Brief Scores Bengal 328 and 99 251 overs Shahbaz Ahmed 24 Auqib Nabi 436 Sunil Kumar 427 Jammu and Kashmir 302 761 overs Abdul Samad 82 Paras Dogra 58 Nabi 42 Yudhvir Singh 33 Mohammed Shami 890 and 432 13 oversThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever