Ranji Trophy: Nine Bengal Batters Score Half-centuries To Set World Record In Quarter-Final Vs Jharkhand

With nine of their batters scoring half-centuries in the Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Jharkhand in Bengaluru, the Bengal cricket team set a new world record in First-Class cricket. Bengal declared on 773/7 on the third day of the knock-out stage game after all their batters, who got time in the middle, hit at least a half-century each. No. 3 batter Sudip Gharami and No. 4 Anustup Majumdar even reached the triple figures. This is the first time in the history of cricket that nine batters have scored a half-century each in a First-class innings.

The earlier record, set in 1893, was that of eight batters of a team scoring half-centuries in a First-class innings. In that match in Portsmouth, eight members of the visiting Australian team scored at least a half-century each against Oxford and Cambridge Universities.

Prior to the quarter-final match between Bengal and Jharkhand, on 27 occasions seven 50-plus scores had been recorded in a First-class innings, according to Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians records. Three of those came in the Ranji Trophy: for Maharashtra against Northern India in 1940-41, for Holkar against Mysore in 1945-46, and for Bengal against Bihar in 1996-97.

Earlier, Sudip Gharami hogged the limelight on Day 2 with a 186-run knock as Bengal reached 577 for five at stumps. The seasoned Anustup Majumdar helped himself to a century (117) before Manoj Tiwary, a sitting minister for youth affairs and sports in West Bengal, walked back unbeaten on 54 at the end of second day's play at the Just Cricket Academy Ground.

Promoted

Looking to accelerate the scoring rate, the 23-year-old Gharami's stay in the middle ended with a contentious decision after which Bengal looked to nudge the ball