Ranji Trophy: Bengal push for outright win against Delhi

KALYANI: Bengal perhaps missed a chance to put up enough pressure on Delhi by being bowled out for 429 runs just after the lunch interval on Day III of their Elite Group ‘C’ Ranji Trophy match here on Tuesday. However, the visitors still have a job at hand as they lie 88 runs in arrears after being reduced to 101/3 at stumps on the penultimate day.

Overnight unbeaten centurion Abishek Porel started off on a positive note by driving pacer Navdeep Saini straight down the ground for a four on the very first ball of the day. However, his unbeaten partner Sudip Gharami looked a bit tentative and was lucky to survive on 131 when Hritik Shokeen dropped an easy catch at deep cover off Saini.

But the 229-run fourth-wicket stand between the two came to an end in the very next over when Gharami was trapped in front by pacer Divij Mehra for 133. Shokeen, however, made amends by picking up the prized wicket of Porel when the left-hander offered an easy chance to Sanat Sangwan at forward shot-leg to fall for a well-made 149 runs.

Ayush Badoni emerged Delhi’s unlikely wrecker-in-chief when he picked up the hosts’ last three wickets — Akash Deep, Mohammed Shami and Mukesh Kumar — in the second over after lunch to restrict the lead to 189 and return with figures of five for 43.

Things could have been worse for Delhi had Sudip Chatterjee held on to a catch offered by opener Sarthak Ranjan in the third over of their second innings being bowled by Shami. For some strange reason Delhi batters went into a shell thereafter as runs completely dried up. In the 19 overs that Delhi faced in the second session of play, only 27 runs were scored.

Bengal got back into the act in the last session by picking up two wickets in quick succession. While Mukesh had lefthander Ayush Doseja caught behind by stand-in wicketkeeper Shakib Gandhi, left-arm spinner Pradipta Pramanik had opener Sanat Sangwan clean bowled off the rough for 25.

Yash Dhull had to retire hurt after getting hit on the chest by an Akash Deep short rising delivery. However the batter is expected to come out on Wednesday, if required, as he was seen doing some knocking practice at the end of day’s play.

Although the wicket is behaving slower, there’s some odd bounce that kept the Bengal camp hopeful. “I still feel we can earn maximum points,” coach Laxmi Ratan Shukla stated.

Brief scores: Delhi 240 and 101/3 (S Sangwan 25; Akash Deep 1-15) vs Bengal 429 (A Porel 149, S Gharami 133; A Badoni 5-43).