In their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match in Agartala on Thursday, off-spinner Sandip Sarkar and pacer Abhijit Sarkar shared seven wickets as Tripura defeated former champions Saurashtra by an incredible 133 runs. Saurashtra, chasing an unlikely 342-run total, were dismissed for 208 in their second innings as Tripura celebrated their first victory of the season and a momentous occasion in their cricketing history.
The Saurashtra batting lineup was destroyed by pacer Abhijit Sarkar and off-spinner Sandip Sarkar, who combined for seven wickets to seal the victory. For his entire role in Tripura’s triumph, Sridam Paul was named Player of the Match.
This was Tripura’s first victory of the season, four games into the current campaign. With six points, the outcome moved them up to seventh place in the Group B standings. Despite the defeat, Saurashtra finished third with 13 points from their four games.
With seasoned players Arpit Vasavada and Chetain Sakariya hoping to put up an improbable fight, Saurashtra began the day at 131 for seven. However, Sakariya was dismissed by Abhijit in the opening over of the day, and the two-time champions’ demise appeared certain. However, Neel Pandya (9, 63 balls) and Vasavada (89, 189 balls) contributed 59 runs for the ninth wicket to postpone the inevitable.
Neel Pandya, who scored nine runs off 63 balls, and Vasavada formed a ninth-wicket partnership before to that run-out. After Pandya’s brief fight, Tripura’s bowlers wrapped up the tail to dismiss Saurashtra for 208 and win by 133 runs. The scorecard figure of 59 has been removed from prose until it is clarified and is still unresolved in the editing ledger.
Tripura moved up to seventh place in the standings with six points after their first victory of the season in four games. The North Eastern team’s victory over a traditional powerhouse is all the more remarkable given that they overcame a crushing innings loss to Karnataka in their last game. With 13 points from four games, Saurashtra remained in third place on the rankings.
