A valiant 155 off just 87 balls with 12 sixes and 11 fours to rack up his personal best first class score was not enough for Riyan Parag and Assam to overcome the Chhattisgarh in the group stage match of the ongoing Ranji Trophy tournament on Monday.
However, the match will be remembered for the brilliance of Riyan Parag. The Assam skipper, having faltered in the first innings, took it upon himself to see the team out of follow-on imposed by Chhattisgarh.
Batting first at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium in Raipur, Chhattisgarh put up 327 runs on the board on the back of 116 (218) by Amandeep Khare, 82 (107) by Shashank Singh, and 58 (152) BY Ashutosh Singh. In reply, the team from Assam was bundled out for just 159 with Denish Das’ 52 (108) standing out as the top score.
As a result, Chhattisgarh imposed a follow-on on Assam and the team came in to bat again. After another poor start, captain Riyan Parag decided to go on the offensive hitting the second-fastest Ranji ton in history.
Riyan Parag hit a strike rate of 178.16 slamming 12 sixes and 11 fours on the way to 155 off just 87 balls. However, after him, the other batters failed to disturb the score-keepers much and Assam could post a target of just 87 runs.
Chhattisgarh chased that down easily without losing any wicket in 20 overs to claim the win.
