Railways pulled off the biggest run chase in the history of the Ranji Trophy after getting bowled out for 105 in the first innings by Tripura. Day 4 of the match at Maharaja Bir Bikram College Stadium in Agartala witnessed history as opener Pratham Singh's unbeaten 169 and Mohammad Saif's fiery 106-run knock helped Railways chase down the target of 378 and beat Tripura by five wickets.
The previous highest successful run chase belonged to Saurashtra when they chased down 372 against Uttar Pradesh.
Low-scoring first innings
The first two innings of the game were low-scoring ones. Despite Sridam Paul's 71, Tripura were bowled out for 149. Then M Murasingh registered a five-wicket haul to bundle out Railways for 105 while Arindam Ghosh remained stranded on 62.
Tripura set big target
After taking a 44-run lead, Sudip Chatterjee's 95, G Satish's half-century, Abhijit K Sarkar's 48, and no.11 batter Rana Dutta's 47 helped Tripura post 33 and set a target of 378.
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Early wickets lost in run chase
Railways' run chase was derailed early. First Rana Dutta dismissed opener Suraj Ahuja lbw. Then Murasingh struck twice to get rid of Yuvraj Singh and Sahab Yuvraj on Day 3. After 31/3, Pratham and Saif had the responsibility to stabilise the run chase.
Saif takes Tripura bowlers by surprise
Saif launched a counterattack. He hit boundaries to put pressure on Tripura bowlers. He scored 106 runs from 126 balls including 14 boundaries. But with 172 more runs to win, he was dismissed by Bikramjit Debnath. Half-centurion of the first innings, Ghosh played with patience while Pratham reached his century in the last session on Day 3.
Pratham finishes it off
Resuming at 270/4, Railways needed 108 more runs to win. Murasingh got a wicket but it turned out to be a consolation. Ghosh departed after scoring 40 runs from 126 balls in the 118-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Wicketkeeper-batter Upendra Yadav looked to finish the run chase early. Pratham continued to anchor the run chase as Railways achieved the target in 103 overs to create history. He took 300 balls to score 169 runs. His splendid knock was laced with 16 fours and a six. Yadav contributed with a 36-ball 27.
Railways could not qualify for the quarter-final stage but they bowed out of the tournament with a massive record in their name. Meanwhile, Pratham who was dropped by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) without getting a game proved that he can perform under pressure.
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