Tamil Nadu’s hopes of a win against Jharkhand dissipated as Ajith Ram (5) and Vijay Shankar (33) fell on the fifth and seventh balls of the day, caught at slip and gully off Utkarsh Singh and Manishi. Tamil Nadu was eventually bowled out for 189 and Jharkhand won by 44 runs in the Elite Group-D match of the Ranji Trophy at the Keenan stadium in Jamshedpur on Saturday.

Tamil Nadu’s hopes were briefly revived when M. Mohammed (35) and Lakshay Jain (13) engaged in a bout of run gathering (44 runs). But just as that eighth-wicket stand was getting grand, and ominous for Jharkhand, off-spinner Aditya Singh trapped Lakshay plumb in front. The Tamil Nadu camp, which was cheering for every run, fell instantly back to earth.

Jharkhand skipper Ishan Kishan preferred to have an attacking field for Lakshay and boundary riders for Mohammed. Despite the presence of the in-fielders to stop him from getting off the strike, Lakshay kept finding the gaps for singles. Sneaky singles pressurised Jharkhand into conceding a couple of overthrows.

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Mohammed even hit a midwicket six off Utkarsh. He pulled Aditya for a midwicket six later when Lakshay had been dismissed and he’d decided to go for his shots with only one wicket left. It was that urgency that led to his dismissal, as he went on the back foot and missed connecting his shot to be dismissed leg before wicket off left-arm spinner Anukul Roy.

Utkarsh, with a first-innings six-fer (six for 30) and a second-innings 35 with the bat, was adjudged the Player-of-the-match.

Veteran right-arm pacer Ashish Kumar, who’d played his last first-class match, was given a guard of honour by his Jharkhand teammates. The Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) also felicitated him with a small ceremony. Retired India pacer and former Jharkhand skipper Varun Aaron, who’s partnered Ashish in bowling with the new ball for Jharkhand, graced the occasion.