Jharkhand 769 for 9 (Kushagra 266, Nadeem 123*, Virat 107, Kense 3-138, Lemtur 3-161) vs Nagaland
Jharkhand posted a mammoth 769 - their highest score since they began playing first-class cricket from the 2004-05 season onward - on the back of wicketkeeper-batter Kumar Kushagra's commanding knock of 266 and No. 8 Shahbaz Nadeem's unbeaten 123, his highest score in first-class cricket. These followed Virat Singh's innings of 107 from Saturday, as Nagaland stared at a mountain to climb after spending 177 overs on the field across two days.
It was a day where multiple records tumbled: Jharkhand achieved their highest first-class score by far, eclipsing the 556 they had made against Hyderabad in 2015; Eden Gardens witnessed its second-highest first-class total; and Kushagra bagged the second-highest score by a Jharkhand batter in first-class cricket.
Kushagra and Nadeem added 166 for the seventh wicket, capitalising on some ineffective bowling as well as poor fielding from Nagaland, who dropped Kushagra on 132 on the second morning after also giving him lives on 10 and 44 on the first day. Eventually, Kushagra took only 269 balls to hit 266, 160 of which came in boundaries.
He reached his double century off 213 deliveries in the morning session, and displayed a range of strokes throughout the day: a drive to bisect cover and mid-off, a pull between fine leg and deep square leg, a punch off the back foot and a loft over the bowler's head, among others.
At the other end, Nadeem displayed the patience and application of a frontline batter, grinding his way to a second first-class century. He got to his fifty off 100 balls, and reached the three-figure landmark off 196 deliveries. He hit 14 fours, and one effortless six, a casual walk down the pitch to legspinner Khrievitso Kense followed by a gentle loft over long-on.
Nagaland's frustrations on the day were summed up when a straight drive from Nadeem off medium-pacer Raja Swarnkar in the 161st over hit the stumps at the bowler's end and ricocheted to the rope for four.
Earlier, overnight batter Anukul Roy had got to a half-century before falling for 59 to end a 128-run partnership with Kushagra. Jharkhand were 489 for 6 at that point; if Nagaland thought they would soon be done chasing leather, Kushagra and Nadeem rid them of that notion by putting on the third successive century stand of the innings.
Himanshu Agrawal is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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