Jharkhand lower-order batters made a mockery of Nagaland bowlers as they helped their side post a massive total of 880 on the board in 203.4 overs. Nagaland batters were not upto the mark as well as they still trail by 750 runs.
Starting the Day 3 at 769/9, Shahbaz Nadeem and no.11 batter Rahul Shukla shared a 191-run 10th-wicket partnership. As Nagaland bowler looked unimpressive, Nadeem went on to score 177 runs from 304 deliveries, his highest score in the format. His 177-run knock was studded with 22 fours and two sixes. On the other end, Shukla remained unbeaten for 85 runs from 149 deliveries including seven fours and six sixes. After toiling hard for more than an hour, Imliwati Lemtur got the much-awaited wicket as he trapped Nadeem in front of the wickets.
Replying to a humongous first innings total of 880, Nagland batters did not look upto the mark. The openers crumbled underneath the pressure and registered single-digit scores. While Sedezhalie Rupero got castled by Ashish Kumar, Yugandhar Singh got run out after a mix-up with Shrikant Mundhe.
Skipper Rongsen Jonathan did not make a mark either as he fell to Anukul Roy after scoring just five runs. Unfortunately, Hokaito Zhimomi got retired hurt after scoring just five runs. Mundhe and wicketkeeper-batter Chetan Bist held the fort for a while but the top order batter veteran left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem's first victim. Mundhe scored 39 runs from 96 deliveries.
Bist remained unbeaten for 46 in the third session. Abu Nechim could not get a wicket for more than two days but contributed 13 runs to the unbeaten 31-run partnership in the final session of Day 3.
Now, Nagaland batters face an uphill task to save the Test. They have managed to score 130/4 from 58 overs at a run rate just above two runs per over. With a lead of 750 more runs, Jharkhand are highly likely advance to the next stage.
Earlier in Jharkhand’s first innings, 17-year-old wicketkeeper-batter Kumar Kushagra scored 266 runs from 270 deliveries. Middle-order batter Virat Singh scored a century as well with Kumar Suraj and Anukul Roy contributing with their respective half-centuries to the mammoth total.
