Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 19: Explosive middle-order batsman Abdul Samad was at his butchering best as he slammed a power-packed 68-ball century, before experienced campaigner and former skipper, Parvez Rasool captured 5 important wickets as Jammu and Kashmir is in sight of a big win against Pondicherry in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group match at SSN College Ground, Chennai.
Earlier, resuming from an overnight score of 260/3, J&K rode on a power-packed innings of 103 runs off 73 balls by Samad to score 426 runs in 114.3 overs thus gaining a vital lead. Samad was in awe-inspiring touch today, hitting the ball with fluid, grace and utter-brilliance. He sent the bowlers on a leather-hunt and smashed 19 delectable boundaries and 2 massive sixes.
Earlier, opener Qamran Iqbal fell at his overnight score of 96 runs off 220 balls, studded with 13 fours and 2 sixes. Abid Mushtaq and Parvez Rasool contributed 40 and 31 runs to the total respectively. Auqib Nabi chipped in with 18 runs.
For Pondicherry, Sagar V Trivedi was the wrecker-in-chief, who captured 5 important wickets, while Sagar P Udeshi bagged 3 wickets. Fabid Ahmed also claimed 2 wickets.
Trailing by 83 runs, Pondicherry, in their second essay were struggling at 113/9 in 44 overs when the stumps were drawn on Day-3 today, thus having just 30 runs in their kitty with one wicket in hand.
J&K bowlers, especially Parvez Rasool ripped through the rival batting line-up to plot their collapse. Sagar V Trivedi top scored with unbeaten 26 runs, while Pavan Deshpande scored 21 runs. Paras Dogra contributed 16 runs to the total.
For J&K, Parvez Rasool was the wrecker-in-chief, who captured 5 important wickets by conceding 29 runs, while left-arm spinner Abid Mushtaq took 2 wickets by giving away 17. Genuine quick bowler, Umran Malik and Auqib Nabi claimed one wicket each.
With just a day’s play left and Pondicherry just 30 runs ahead with the last wicket in hand, J&K is already in a driving seat and it will be a cakewalk rather than a formality for them on the final day.
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