Jaggi engineers Jharkhand fightback

Ishank Jaggi led Jharkhand's spirited fightback with his 15th first-class hundred, and helped his side take the crucial first innings lead against Gujarat at stumps on day three of the Ranji Trophy semifinal, here today.

Jharkhand, who were trailing Gujarat's 390 by 176 runs with five down before play began on day three, rode on Jaggi's brilliance to end their first innings at 408.

Left-arm spinner and this season's leading wicket-taker, Shahbaz Nadeem, then put Gujrat under pressure in their second innings, reducing them to 100 for four at close of play and just 82 ahead going into day four.
 

But it was Jaggi's effort with the bat that allowed Jharkhand to comeback into the match. The 27-year-old, who scored his fourth century this season, has been instrumental in taking Jharkhand to their first ever Ranji Trophy semifinal alongside Ishan Kishan and Nadeem.

Jaggi shared a 92-run stand with Kishan for the fourth wicket yesterday and today anchored a 70 and 97-run partnerships with overnight batsman Rahul Shukla (27) and Kaushal Singh (53) respectively.

Jaggi, who was overnight 40 not out, went on to make a memorable hundred. It was a rather entertaining innings with a 70 plus strike rate and comprising 15 fours and a six.

Kaushal too played his part well with a 92-ball 53 while Shukla frustrated the opposition with a 66-ball 27.

Veteran pacer R P Singh was the stand out bowler for Gujrat with a six-wicket haul.

Gujarat were off to a bad start in their second innings with tournament's leading run-getter and first innings centurion Priyank Kirit Panchal being run out in the eighth over.

Samit Gohel (49) and Bhargav Merai (44) took the innings forward with a 69-run stand before falling to the guile of Nadeem. Captain Parthiv Patel fell cheaply lasting only 12 balls.

Brief scores: Gujarat 390 and 100/4 in 37 overs (Samit Gohel 49, Bhargav Merai 44; Nadeem 3/36). Jharkhand 408 in 102 overs (Ishank Jaggi 129, Kaushal Singh 53; RP Singh 6/90).