1938–39 Ranji Trophy

The 1938–39 Ranji Trophy was the fifth edition of the Ranji Trophy, an annual first-class cricket tournament in India. Matches were played from 28 October 1938 to 21 February 1939 with a total of twenty teams participating. The Army and Delhi both returned and were included in the North Zone. The sides were divided into four zonal groups, but the tournament utilised a knockout format. Bengal won their first title defeating Southern Punjab in the final.

1938–39 Ranji Trophy
The Ranji Trophy
Dates28 October 1938 – 21 February 1939
Administrator(s)BCCI
Cricket formatFirst-class
Tournament format(s)Knockout
ChampionsBengal (1st title)
Participants20
Matches20
Most runsNaoomal Jeoomal (Sind) (418)
Most wicketsAmir Elahi (Nawanagar) (28)
Official websitehttp://www.bcci.tv

Teams

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Although the tournament ran in a knockout format, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) organised the teams by zone. Delhi and the Army rejoined North Zone although the latter did not actually play a match. United Provinces (North to East) and Rajputana (East to North) exchanged zones. The twenty teams are listed alphabetically by zone and the sides that won each zonal title are in bold.

Highlights

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  • Tom Longfield was the second non-native captain to win the Ranji Trophy, after Bert Wensley in 1936–37.
  • Naoomal Jeoomal of Sind scored 203* against Nawanagar out of a score of only 326.
  • In the Nawanagar v Western India match, Amar Singh became the first bowler to take 100 Ranji Trophy wickets.[1] This was his 14th Ranji Trophy match.

Zonal matches

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East Zone

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Round 1Round 2
 
      
 
3 Dec 1938 – Calcutta
 
 
Bengal366/3d
 
31 Dec 1938 – Calcutta
 
Bihar105 & 76
 
Bengal378/9d
 
10 Dec 1938– Indore
 
Central India108 & 149
 
Central India170 & 279
 
 
United Provinces49 & 154
 

North Zone

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Round 1Round 2Round 3
 
          
 
12 Nov 1938 – Patiala
 
 
Southern Punjab304 & 221
 
2 Jan 1939— Patiala
 
Rajputana190 & 151
 
Southern Punjab379
 
26 Nov 1938 – Peshawar
 
North West Frontier Province227 & 115
 
North West Frontier Province418/8d
 
21 Jan 1939— Patiala
 
Delhi207 & 40
 
Southern Punjab180 & 120/1
 
 
Northern India116 & 123
 
 
 
 
 
Northern IndiaWalkover
 
 
Army
 
 
 
 

South Zone

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Round 1Round 2
 
      
 
 
 
 
17 Dec 1938 – Madras
 
 
Madras159 & 150/4
 
25 Nov 1938 – Secunderabad
 
Hyderabad139 & 168
 
Hyderabad382 & 236/7
 
 
Mysore285 & 111/2
 

West Zone

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Round 1Round 2Round 3
 
          
 
 
 
 
5 Nov 1938 – Karachi
 
 
Sind370/7
 
28 Oct 1938 – Baroda
 
Bombay366
 
Baroda326
 
24 Dec 1938 – Karachi
 
Bombay441
 
Sind326 & 263/7d
 
4 Nov 1938 – Jamnagar
 
Nawanagar271 & 125/2
 
Nawanagar238 & 16/2
 
9 Nov 1938 – Jamnagar
 
Gujarat105 & 148
 
Nawanagar168 & 184/6
 
4 Nov 1938 – Rajkot
 
Western India166 & 185
 
Western India138 & 180
 
 
Maharashtra131 & 77
 

Inter-zonal knockout stage

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Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
21 Jan 1939 – Calcutta
 
 
Bengal515
 
18 Feb 1939 – Calcutta
 
Madras114 & 116
 
Bengal222 & 418
 
10 Feb 1939 – Patiala
 
Southern Punjab328 & 134
 
Southern Punjab197 & 168/3
 
 
Sind339 & 23
 

Final

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18–21 February 1939
Scorecard
Bengal (H)
v
222 (83.5 overs)
Kartick Bose 48
Amir Elahi 5/73
328 (90 overs)
Wazir Ali 222
Kamal Bhattacharya 5/100
418 (146.3 overs)
Basil Malcolm 91
Murawwat Hussain 4/97
134 (48.4 overs)
Lala Amarnath 37
Tom Longfield 4/48
Bengal won by 178 runs
Eden Gardens, Calcutta
Umpires: Nirmal Chatterjee, M. Dutta Ray
  • Bengal won the toss and elected to bat.

References

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  1. ^ Nawanagar v Western India, 1938–39. CricketArchive. Retrieved 11 December 2023. (subscription required)