Star India pacer Mohammed Shami, whose last appearance for the country was in the final of the Champions Trophy last year, smacked a 32-ball half-century for Bengal against Andhra Pradesh in the quarterfinals
of the Ranji Trophy, helping his team post a whopping 629 in the first innings.
Shami compounded the opposition’s woes, pushing the team’s first-innings total to a huge score, after Sudip Kumar Gharami’s brilliant 299.
Shami walked in after Akash Deep’s dismissal in the 192nd over on Day 4 of the Ranji Trophy quarter-final. He got off the mark with a four off the second ball he faced, though it remained his only scoring shot in his first 10 deliveries.
Shami then attacked Shaik Rasheed and Tripurana Vijay, smacking seven fours off his next 10 deliveries, including four in a row during the 197th over.
Shami reached his fifty with a brilliant six off Saurabh Kumar, before falling for 53 from 33 deliveries in the 200th over. His explosive knock featured seven fours and three sixes, with just seven runs coming from singles and twos.
Before this, Shami had two first-class fifties to his name, with his highest being an unbeaten 56 off 70 deliveries on Day 5 of the second Test against England at Lord’s in 2021.
Shami’s other first-class fifty also came in England, during the 2014 tour at Trent Bridge, in what was just his seventh Test appearance.
Earlier, Bengal captain Abhimanyu Easwaran won the toss and put Andhra Pradesh in to bat on Friday. AP posted 295, riding on an 83-run knock from Ricky Bhui, while Mukesh Kumar picked five wickets.
In the second innings, Bengal found themselves 43/3 in the 15th over, before Sudip Kumar Gharami and Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal added 80 runs for the fourth wicket. After the latter was dismissed by Vijay in the 43rd over, Gharami and Shahbaz Ahmed added 30 runs for the fifth wicket.
After the latter was dismissed by Saurabh in the 49th over, Gharami and Sumanta Gupta stitched together a huge 165-run partnership for the sixth wicket. Once Saurabh removed Gupta in the 105th over, Gharami went on to add a seemingly match-winning 221-run stand for the seventh wicket with Shakir Habib Gandhi.
After Gandhi fell to Rasheed in the 186th over, Gharami and Akash Deep put on a 30-run partnership for the eighth wicket. Rasheed then dismissed Gharami in the 194th over, but Shami and Mukesh followed it up with a brisk 55-run stand for the ninth wicket, powering Bengal to the huge total.
