Ranji Trophy Plate final: Bihar thrash Manipur by 568 runs to return to Elite Group

A record margin and a promotion back to the top tier

Bihar delivered a statement performance in the Ranji Trophy Plate final, crushing Manipur by 568 runs and confirming promotion back to the Elite Group. The win, reported by The Times of India, capped a one-sided contest in which Bihar combined massive first-innings runs with relentless bowling to keep Manipur under constant scoreboard pressure.

The result is significant for Bihar’s domestic red-ball project. The report noted the team’s recent movement between tiers—briefly making the Elite Group in 2022-23 before slipping back to the Plate by 2024-25. This latest promotion restores Bihar to the higher competitive bracket and offers a stronger platform for developing players under more demanding opposition.

Batting: big hundreds and a double century

Bihar’s batters set the tone across both innings. In the first innings, skipper Sakibul Gani made 108 and Bipin Saurabh struck 143, building a large base total. In the second innings, opener Piyush Singh produced the headline knock—an unbeaten 216 off 322 balls—helping Bihar stretch the lead into an effectively unreachable zone.

The match situation became so lopsided that Bihar’s declaration call on the final day was an aggressive push for time rather than a risk, aimed at giving the bowlers a full day to finish the job.

Bowling: spinners close it out

Manipur were dismissed for 264 in the first innings and 195 in the second, as Bihar’s attack kept wickets falling. Spinners Suraj Kumar Kashyap (3/32) and Himanshu Singh (3/49) took three wickets each in the second innings, ensuring there was no late resistance and sealing a comprehensive win.

For Bihar, the promotion is both a reward and a reset: the Elite Group will demand consistency, but this final showed the team has the top-order runs and bowling discipline required to compete at a higher level.