Jammu and Kashmir cricket team on Thursday created history by reaching the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals for the first time after their Group C encounter against Tripura ended in a draw here.
The J&K team entered the last eight stage by virtue of their first innings lead, which earned them three crucial points. They ended tied on 28 points with Goa but qualified on the basis of their marginally better points quotient.
J&K had a quotient of 1.006 as against Goa’s 1.005 after ending the fourth and final day at 87 for two in a chase of 228.
In the 2001-01 season, which was held under a different format, the J&K team had qualified for the knockout stage but at that time they had reached the pre-quarterfinals, losing to Odisha by a massive 420-run margin.
J&K will now square off against Punjab at Baroda from January 8.
It was a remarkable achievement for the J&K team considering that many formidable sides such as seven-time champions Delhi, two-time winners Rajasthan, last year’s finalists Saurashtra and Gujarat failed to make it to the knockout stage.
The hosts began the day at a solid 103 for two but were all out for 272 as spinner Perveez Rasool claimed seven wickets at the expense of 87 runs. Tripura’s overnight batsmen Abhijit Dey (63), Kaushal Acharjee (35) began cautiously and had extended their partnership to 78 runs but Rasool dismissed both in a gap of four overs.
Brief Scores
Tripura: 280 and 272 (Abhijit Dey 63; Perveez Rasool 7/87) drew with J&K: 325 and 87/2 (Perveez Rasool 37 not out).