Rahul Singh picks 2nd 5-wicket haul in Ranji Trophy as Assam beats Bihar; Parvez Musharaf scores 2nd 50 in a row

Assam won the first Ranji Trophy match in this season after defeating Bihar outright by 9 wickets. This is a victory that was made in Silchar and delivered in Guwahati. Batting first, Assam posted a mammoth score of 405 on the back of a century from Silchar’s Abhishek Thakuri and 89 from Parvez Musharaf. Mrinmoy Dutta played a crucial knock of 72 runs batting at number 10 and he was ably supported by Rahul Singh who scored 29 before getting run out.

Assam’s stand-in captain in absence of Riyan Parag, Denish Das enforced Bihar to follow on after they got bundled out for 207. In the second innings, Bihar opener Piyush Kumar Singh gave the team a steady start and it was headed towards a draw. But then came Rahul Singh and his left-arm off break bowling that caught Bihar batters off guard.

Rahul Singh ended up with a five-wicket haul, his second of the season. Centurian Piyush Kumar Singh (102) was one of the wickets that Rahul Singh picked. This marks a historic campaign for the players from Silchar playing at the Ranji Trophy. It has never happened in the past when a batter from Silchar scored a century, another batter who also plays his cricket in Silchar scored half-centuries in each innings and then a bowler picked five wickets. Bihar was all out for 292 and Assam needed 100 runs to win the match and claim all possible points.

Batting fourth, it wasn’t that easy a task for the batters but Mr. Consistent and an emerging sensation in Assam Cricket, Parvez Musharaf, who plays his cricket from India Club, rose to the occasion once again. He remained unbeaten at 52 to take Assam to victory along with his skipper, Denish Das, who also remained unbeaten at 22.