India, Feb. 18 -- In an extraordinary day for Indian cricket, Jammu and Kashmir reached their first-ever final of the prestigious Ranji Trophy after beating Bengal by six wickets at the Bengal Cricket Academy Ground in Kalyani on Wednesday.

Medium pacers Auqib Nabi and Sunil Kumar were the architects of the victory, to all intents and purposes. Their bowling, particularly in the second innings, proved decisive as Bengal collapsed for just 99 runs. Both bowlers took four wickets each as J&K, who actually conceded a 26-run lead in the first innings, changed the complexion of the match in a big way on Tuesday.

Needing just 126 to win yesterday, J&K had a massive scare at the start when their openers Shubham Khajuria (1) and Yawer Hassan (6...