Shahbaz Ahmed and Abishek Porel’s commendable rescue act, within the type of sensible half-centuries leading to a seventh-wicket century-run partnership, saved Bengal the blushes following a disastrous begin on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy last towards Saurashtra on the Eden Gardens on Thursday.
Saurashtra captain Jaydev Unadkat elected to bowl and executed his recreation plan completely to make life troublesome for the house batters on a greenish floor within the morning.
Unadkat and firm bundled Bengal out for 174 within the first innings earlier than Saurashtra ended the day at 81 for the lack of two wickets. Left-handed pacers Unadkat and Chetan Sakariya lived as much as the expectation and operated in tandem to wreak havoc.
They hit the precise line and size and extracted spectacular bounce and motion to take away 5 batters in just a little over an hour.
Unadkat drew first blood within the opening over as Abhimanyu Easwaran was caught at ahead short-leg for a duck.
Sakariya landed a double blow within the second over. Thirty-two-year-old debutant Sumanta Gupta was caught at second slip and Sudip Gharami was bowled shouldering arms.
Skipper Manoj Tiwary stretched out towards Unadkat to be held at gully, and Anustup Majumdar edged Chirag Jani behind even after settling down.
Akash Ghatak grew to become Sakariya’s third sufferer as Bengal tottered at 65 for six.
The skilled Shahbaz (69, 112b, 11×4) and the younger Abishek (50, 98b, 8×4) batted with willpower, taking part in every supply on benefit, to revive the innings.
With the pitch easing out, the duo gathered runs at a quicker tempo within the center session – throughout which they achieved their fifties and an excellent 101-run stand.
The two performed some assured pictures to the ropes. While Shahbaz primarily relied on cuts and flicks, Abishek selected drives and cuts.
They additionally rotated the strike amidst encouraging help from three thousand partisan spectators.
The defiant stand ended with spinner Dharmendra Jadeja having Shahbaz, who had a reprieve as a catch off Prerak Mankad was disallowed previous to lunch, caught at short-leg on the stroke of tea.
Batting on 42, Abhishek used DRS to outlive an lbw resolution and get his second consecutive half-century. He departed quickly, taking part in Jani to first slip.
Dharmendra and Unadkat, who secured three wickets to say 300 Ranji wickets, closed the Bengal innings early within the last session.
Saurashtra had a flying begin as Harvik Desai hammered the wayward Bengal pacers. Akash Deep and Mukesh Kumar received a wicket a chunk to restrict the injury.
– Y. B. Sarangi
The scores:
Bengal – 1st innings: Sumanta Gupta c Jackson b Sakariya 1, Abhimanyu Easwaran c Gohil b Unadkat 0, Sudip Gharami b Sakariya 0, Anustup Majumdar c Desai b Jani 16, Manoj Tiwary c Vishvaraj b Unadkat 7, Akash Ghatak c Unadkat b Sakariya 17, Shahbaz Ahmed c Vishvaraj b Dharmendra 69, Abishek Porel c Mankad b Jani 50, Akash Deep c Unadkat b Dharmendra 4, Mukesh Kumar c&b Unadkat 1, Ishan Porel (not out) 0, Extras (lb-7, nb-2) 9, Total (in 54.1 overs) 174
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-1, 3-2, 4-17, 5-34, 6-65, 7-166, 8-172, 9-174
Saurashtra bowling: Unadkat 13.1-3-44-3, Sakariya 13-4-33-3, Jani 11-2-33-2, Mankad 11-4-38-0, Dharmendra 6-1-19-2
Saurashtra – 1st innings: Harvik Desai (batting) 38, Jay Gohil b Akash Deep 6, Vishvaraj Jadeja c Abishek b Mukesh 25, Chetan Sakariya (batting) 2, Extras (b-5, lb-1, nb-4) 10, Total (for 2 wickets in 17 overs) 81
Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-73; Bengal bowling: Mukesh 6-1-23-1, Akash Deep 8-1-28-1, Ghatak 1-0-10-0, Ishan 1-0-12-0, Shahbaz 1-0-2-0.
Source web site: sportstar.thehindu.com
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