Ranji Trophy 2026-27 — Jharkhand, Kerala share spoils

Shikhar Mohan’s century help Jharkhand post 587 in the first innings against Kerala. | Photo Credit: PTI

The Jharkhand vs Kerala Ranji Trophy 2026-27 match ended in an early draw after there was no possibility of an outright result on Day 4 in Jamshedpur on Wednesday.

The match ended with Kerala 62/2 in its follow-on with less than half of day’s play to go. Jharkhand will be the less happier of the two sides with the result, considering it was the better team across all three days.

Batting first, Jharkhand posted a mammoth 587 on a wicket that had little purchase for the bowlers. The home team had three centurions- Shikhar Mohan, captain Virat Singh, and Aditya Singh. The trio combined for 398 runs as Kerala’s bowlers were made to toil hard.

Vaisakh Chandran, despite going for 166 runs, picked five wickets and was the only Kerala bowler to make an impression. In reply, Kerala started strong as openers Abhishek P Nair and Rohan Kunnummal utilised the good batting conditions to full effect. While Rohan was dismissed for 44, Abhishek to score 126 off 204 balls.

However, despite his efforts, Kerala was bowled out for 395 and failed to avoid the follow-on. Since Jharkhand had the first-innings lead, it came away from the match with three points.