Dhanbad Diamonds captain SP Gautam dives to stop the ball deflected to leg slip by a Jamshedpur Jaanbaaz batsman during the inaugural JPL match in Ranchi on Sunday. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, March 13: Just a day after India lost to South Africa in the World Cup, cricket won handsomely on Jharkhand Premier League (JPL)’s maiden turf.

The inaugural edition got off to a dramatic start at the Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) international cricket stadium as Jamshedpur Jaanbaaz, batting first, piled a huge score of 197 runs for four in the allotted 20 overs. Dhanbad Diamonds folded its innings at 162, leaving the Jaanbaaz men winners by 35 runs.

Jaanbaaz man Ajit Dwivedi bagged man of the match award for his 72 runs off 44 balls not out. Ajat Shatru too added to the team’s knock of 60 runs off 43 deliveries.

In the second match of the tourney late at night, Singhbhum Shers beat Ranchi Rangers 26 runs. The Shers scored 186 runs, nailing the opponents at 160 runs.

But those who had dropped in for entertainment were in for an initial let-down. The song-and-dance extravaganza timing was in for a rejig to suit chief minister Arjun Munda’s entry.

Their small sliver of consolation was the pom-pom girls. Two groups of cheerleaders drew applause whenever they broke into a jig, which was whenever their teams took a wicket or hit a six.

Munda arrived around 6pm when Dhanbad Diamonds were at crease after 10 overs with 88 runs for four. His arrival led to cricketing action hitting the pause button as the chief minister met players of both teams and made a short speech. “Now, no one can say we do not have quality infrastructure and facility for sports. We built stadiums of international standard for the 34th National Games, and we have a quality cricket stadium. I hope we soon host an international cricket match to match the facilities,” he said.

Finally, before the second match of the evening between Ranchi Rangers and Singhbhum Shers, entertainment buffs got to see some live action. Bollywood playback singer Babul Supriyo crooned “Kaho na pyar hai”, while the JPL theme song composed by Indian Idol heartthrob Rahul Saxena and dance choreographed by Sajjid filled the gap between the two matches.

Incidentally, the very first ball of JPL was a no-ball by former Ranji fast bowler S.S. Rao of Dhanbad Diamonds. And the first six of this tournament was hit by Jaanbaaz Tejaswi Yadav, son of RJP chief Lalu Prasad, who pulled it off over mid-wicket in the second over. He hit another six before being run out. But he had set a blistering pace, maintained by other batsmen.