Ranji Trophy semifinal | Dogra and Samad’s knocks reviveJammu & Kashmir against Bengal

Carrying the thrill of a tug-of-war contest, the Ranji Trophy semifinal match at the Bengal Cricket Academy ground here remained nicely balanced on the second day as Jammu & Kashmir relied on Abdul Samad and captain Paras Dogra’s commendable half-centuries to put up a strong fight against Bengal on Monday.

Resuming from 249 for five, Bengal was all out for 328 in its first innings.

In reply, J & K recovered from 13 for three to close at 198 for five to trail by 130 runs.

J & K pace ace Auqib Nabi’s relentlessness and execution of skills earned him three more wickets and his 15th five-for. He scalped overnight centurion Sudip Gharami, who shouldered arms to be adjudged lbw, after J & K took the second new ball and went on to claim Akash Deep and Mohammed Shami.

Sumanta Gupta played some cracking shots to push Bengal past 300.

Disastrous start

J & K had a disastrous start as Shami ran in hard, found good areas and worked up pace to secure lbw decisions against openers Shubham Khajuria and Yawer Hassan.

Mukesh Kumar dismissed Shubham Pundir immediately after lunch to reduce J & K to 13 for three.

Nevertheless, Samad and Dogra’s spirited 143-run partnership increased Bengal’s anxiety.

Samad, dropped by ‘keeper Shakir Gandhi on 34 off Mukesh, displayed his flair and impressed with his cuts, punches and drives. Seasoned pro Dogra patiently held one end despite receiving some blows and showcased his handsome drives.

Bengal regained ground with Shami striking in the first over of his second spell as Samad hit straight to extra-cover.

Dogra, who was declared lbw off a no-ball and became the second man after Wasim Jaffer to score 10,000 Ranji runs during his knock, ill-timed Mukesh to deep square-leg sooner than later.

Abid Mushtaq and Kanhaiya Wadhawan stood firm to keep J & K in the fight.

The scores: Bengal —1st innings: Abhimanyu Easwaran b Nabi 49, Sudip Chatterjee c Pundir b Sunil 0, Sudip Gharami lbw b Nabi 146, Suraj Jaiswal c Wadhawan b Nabi 0, Anustup Majumdar lbw b Abid 14, Shahbaz Ahmed lbw b Sunil 42, Shakir Habib Gandhi lbw b Sunil 4, Sumanta Gupta c Abid b Yudhvir 39, Akash Deep lbw b Nabi 7, Mohammed Shami c Vanshaj b Nabi 1, Mukesh Kumar (not out) 11; Extras (lb-7, nb-6, w-2): 15; Total (in 97.1 overs): 328.

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-89, 3-89, 4-155, 5-249, 6-269, 7-269, 8-298, 9-306.

Jammu & Kashmir bowling: Nabi 26-6-87-5, Sunil 20-8-41-3, Yudhvir 18.1-70-1 Abid 19-3-82-1, Vanshaj 11-1-34-0, Samad 3-0-7-0.

Jammu & Kashmir — 1st innings: Shubham Khajuria lbw b Shami 3, Yawer Hassan lbw b Shami 2, Shubham Singh Pundir c Chatterjee b Mukesh 8, Paras Dogra c Jaiswal b Mukesh 58, Abdul Samad c Akash b Shami 82, Kanhaiya Wadhawan (batting) 10, Abid Mushtaq (batting) 26; Extras (b-2, lb-5, nb-2): 9; Total (for five wkts. in 51 overs): 198.

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-13, 3-13, 4-156, 5-156.

Bengal bowling: Shami 13-2-60-3, Mukesh 13-2-40-2, Akash 9-0-33-0, Jaiswal 8-1-39-0, Shahbaz 8-0-19-0.

Published – February 16, 2026 10:55 pm IST