Bengal’s Sudip Gharami fell short of creating history in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal clash against Andhra Pradesh. He was dismissed for 299 runs, one short of a historic triple century, but joined the elite list of batters to be dismissed on 299 in first-class cricket history. Sudip became only the third batter to get out on 299 in red-ball cricket history, joining Martin Crowe and Michael Powell in the rare list.
He smashed 31 fours and six sixes during his marathon knock, facing a staggering 596 deliveries which equates to almost 100 overs. Bengal batted for 199.1 overs in their innings before getting bowled out for 629 runs and Sudip batted for a stunning 99.2 overs, scoring 299 runs.
Thanks to his brilliant innings, Andhra took a mammoth lead of 334 runs in the first innings and ended up winning the game by an innings and 90 runs. Batting first, Andhra had posted 295 runs on the board and they could only score 244 runs in their second essay despite the all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy scoring 90 runs.
Which players have remained unbeaten on 299 runs in first-class cricket?
Sudip Gharami is the first Indian to be dismissed on 299 in FC cricket, but overall, he is the second player to register the said score in Ranji Trophy history. Shantanu Sugwekar of Maharashtra remained stranded on 299 during the 1988-89 Ranji Trophy. Notably, Don Bradman is the other batter to remain not out on 299 and he did so against South Africa at the Adelaide Oval in the 1931-32 season.
As for the match, Mohammed Shami also had fun with the bat, smashing a fifty off 30-odd deliveries. He picked up only one wicket in the game while Akash Deep did well in the first innings, picking up four wickets. Shahbaz Ahmed was the star for Bengal in the second essay, accounting for four scalps. Bengal will now face Jammu and Kashmir in the semifinal, while Karnataka will lock horns against Uttarakhand.
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