Unlike the other eight teams who got the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) recognition to make their foray into Ranji Trophy in 2018, Bihar had to wait for about 18 years to make a comeback into the premier domestic tournament in the country.
And at Moin-Ul-Haq Stadium in Patna on Sunday, they claimed the Ranji Trophy Plate Group final by 220 runs to remind all of the glory days of Bihar cricket and take their place in the Elite group from next season as the better of the two promoted teams — along with Manipur — from the Plate group.
It had been Bihar's match to lose since they posted the huge first-innings total of 546 and their bowlers did well to restrict the Manipur batters and take a lead of 209 runs. After setting the visitors a mammoth target of 544 runs to win, the Bihar bowlers made the final day belong to them, too, when they restricted the Manipur batters to 324 runs and win the summit clash on Sunday.
Skipper Langlonyamba Meitan Keishangbam played like a leader in scoring a valiant century after Manipur resumed the day on 107/4. But it didn't take long for the Bihar bowlers to dismiss the seven remaining wickets as Nawaz Khan, who had claimed five scalps in the first innings, scripted another five-wicket haul to finish the match with 10 wickets.
There was another brave knock by Manipur No. 6 Bikash Singh, as he added 79 runs to the total. Pheiroijam Jotin, too, waged a lone battle and stayed unbeaten two runs short of his half-century as wickets kept toppling at the other end.
Among the other bowlers with a good show on Day 5 was skipper Ashutosh Aman, who took two wickets, and second-innings centurion Sachin Kumar, who claimed the other two dismissals on the day.
Bihar will now hope for an encore of their performance this season while Manipur will look to keep the summit clash woes behind when the two teams embark on their journey in the Elite group from next season.
Brief scores: Bihar 532 & 335. Manipur 337 & 324 in 82.1 overs (LM Keishangbam 117, B Singh 79, P Jotin 48; Nawaz 5/95, Aman 3/87, Kumar 2/67). Bihar won by 220 runs
