Delhi found an unlikely hero in No. 9 batsman Subodh Bhati, whose maiden half-century, a breezy 53-ball 62, facilitated his team to set Bengal a stiff target in the Ranji Trophy Group B match at the Eden Gardens here on Tuesday.
Resuming on 41 for two, Delhi benefited from Bhati and Himmat Singh’s useful knocks to post 301 in its second innings and set the host a target of 322 for a victory.
Bengal was 18 for no loss at close on the penultimate day.
When Delhi lost its ninth wicket at 221, thanks to another big-hearted five-wicket haul by Bengal trump card Ashoke Dinda, the match looked evenly-poised in the final session.
However, Bhati (62 off 53, 5x4, 6x6) and Kulwant Khejroliya (21 off 18, 3x4, 1x6) swung their arms fearlessly to whip the Bengal bowlers at will and switch the momentum in Delhi's favour in 10 overs.
Earlier, overnight batsmen Kunal Chandela and Nitish Rana added 24 runs before being separated.
Himmat Singh (51 off 92, 7x4) and Jonty Sidhu (42 off 90, 5x4, 1x6) batted sensibly to gather 85 runs for the fifth wicket. Himmat cut and drove, while Sidhu played with a straight bat to gather most of their runs.
Poor shot
Himmat fell to a poor shot outside the off-stump. Sidhu stepped out and was stumped before tea.
Mukesh had Shivank Vashisth caught in the slips with the new ball to end the latter’s 32-run stand with Shivam Sharma (27).
Dinda, who hit the right line and length to pick up the wickets of Hiten Dalal and Anuj Rawat overnight and Rana in the morning, shouldered the maximum workload. He had Shivam lbw and Akash Sudan caught behind to complete his 26th five-for and return match figures of nine for 150.
Bhati, known for his batting exploits in club cricket and his 57-ball 200 in Goan league, upset the host’s plans by plundering runs at will off bouncers. Bhati not only entertained the holiday crowd by hammering six sixes between long-on and long-off but also protected Khejroliya to stretch Delhi’s lead before being run out.
The scores:
Delhi — 1st innings: 240.
Bengal — 1st innings: 220.
Delhi — 2nd innings: Kunal Chandela c Tiwary b Pramanik 25, Hiten Dalal lbw b Dinda 11, Anuj Rawat c Tiwary b Dinda 10, Nitish Rana lbw b Dinda 17, Himmat Singh c Pan b Mukesh 51, Jonty Sidhu st Pan b Pramanik 42, Shivam Sharma lbw b Dinda 27, Shivank Vashisth c Majumder b Mukesh 9, Subodh Bhati run out 62, Akash Sudan c Pan b Dinda 8, Kulwant Khejroliya (not out) 21; Extras (b-1, lb-12, nb-2, w-3): 18; Total (in 96.4 overs): 301.
Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-31, 3-65, 4-72, 5-157, 6-169, 7-201, 8-201, 9-221.
Bengal bowling: Dinda 30-7-88-5, Mukesh 23.4-8-71-2, Pramanik 18-5-45-2, Gani 11-1-38-0, Tiwary 1-0-7-0, Writtick 12-3-31-0, Majumder 1-0-8-0.
Bengal — 2nd innings: Abhishek Raman (batting) 8, Abhimanyu Easwaran (batting) 6; Extras (b-4): 4; Total (for no loss in three overs): 18.
Delhi bowling: Khejroliya 2-0-11-0, Bhati 1-0-3-0.