Dominant Jharkhand amass 880 as Nagaland stare at big defeat

Nagaland 130 for 4 (Bist 46*, Mundhe 39, Nadeem 1-17) trail Jharkhand 880 (Nadeem 177, Shukla 85*, Lemtur 4-179) by 750 runs

After two days of resolute batting, Jharkhand continued to pile the misery on a hapless Nagaland attack, finally folding for a massive 880 on the third day in Kolkata. Shahbaz Nadeem, who was on 123 overnight, finished on 177, while No. 11 Rahul Shukla remained unbeaten on 85, as the final-wicket stand yielded 191.

While it was almost surprising to see Jharkhand continue to bat after they had ended day two at 769, Nadeem and Shukla’s intentions of getting quick runs was clear after a quiet first six overs of the day. Nadeem cracked three consecutive fours off Chopise Hopongkyu, and Shukla wasn’t to be left behind either. He quickly found boundaries off Raja Swarnkar before launching Shirkant Mundhe for six to get to his second first-class fifty.

The partnership was past hundred by that time, and the pair resumed their attack after the drinks break, with Shukla smashing another four sixes – he hit six in total – as Nagaland ended up bowling more than 200 overs.

Their reply with the bat wasn’t convincing either. Ashish Kumar cleaned up opener Sedezhalie Rupero for 8 in the fifth over of Nagaland’s innings before Shukla joined the action on the field by running Rupero’s partner Yugandhar Singh out for 9. Anukul Roy soon after had the captain Rongsen Jonathan caught for another single-digit score, as Nagaland stood at 43 for 3 at one stage.

There was a brief fight with a 56-run fourth-wicket partnership between Mundhe and Chetan Bist, but Nadeem hit back with the ball after earlier frustrating Nagaland with the bat. He had Mundhe caught for 39, as the next man in Hokaito Zhimomi was forced to retire hurt on 5 for what seemed like a hand injury, meaning Nagaland were effectively five down.

They ended the day a massive 750 runs behind, and with two full days of the game remaining, stare at a huge defeat unless something miraculous happens to rescue them.