Bengal’s resilience as a unit came to the fore again as it banked on half-centuries from Sudip Chatterjee, Wriddhiman Saha and Anustup Majumdar to give itself a realistic chance of overhauling Saurashtra’s first innings total of 425 in the Ranji Trophy final at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot on Thursday.
Also read: Ranji Trophy: The return of Anustup Majumdar
It was a long haul for Bengal, which resuming on 134 for three, approached the tough task with patience and finished the penultimate day at 354 for six, 72 runs shy of taking the lead.
After Saurashtra reduced Bengal to 263 for six, the tourists rose to the occasion to gather 90 runs in the final session and leave the match evenly-balanced.
Right template
It began with a great act of survival in an eventful opening period. Saha (64, 184b, 10x4, 1x6) and Chatterjee (81, 241b, 7x4) chose the right template to bat on a slow track that occasionally offered low bounce. Chatterjee, 47 overnight, stood like a rock, while Saha hung in resolutely despite being short of match practice.
Saha drove beautifully and cut with control, barring once when he was dropped on 50 off Jaydev Unadkat. Good running between wickets was another feature of their 101-run stand, lasting nearly four hours. Besides, Saha survived thrice, including two close shaves, when DRS came into play.
Unadkat, who bowled with pin-point accuracy to trouble the wicketkeeper-batsman, succeeded in having Saha, on 6, lbw, but the television umpire overturned the decision as the ball hit the bat first. Saha escaped another lbw shout off the home skipper.
Perseverance pays
Saurashtra bowlers’ perseverance paid off when Chatterjee, who picked up some boundaries confidently, was caught off Dharmendrasinh Jadeja at forward short-leg 40 minutes after lunch.
Saha inside-edged Prerak Menkad onto his stumps and Shahbaz Ahmed was bowled by Chetan Sakariya before tea, as Bengal lost three wickets to invite pressure in the middle session.
Vital knock
Majumdar, Bengal’s rescuer of the season, again, played a vital knock (58 batting, 134b, 8x4) to form a 91-run unbriken association with Arnab Nandi (28 batting, 82b, 3x4, 1x6). They blocked with a straight bat and didn’t waste any scoring opportunity.
Majumdar, dropped on 10, got some boundaries on both sides.
Saurashtra’s strategy to post the wicketkeeper close to the stumps backfired. It leaked too many easy runs, including 16 byes and five penalty, as the momentum shifted towards Bengal in quick time.
The scores:
Saurashtra — 1st innings: 425.
Bengal — 1st innings: Sudip Gharami c Vishvarajsinh b Dharmendrasinh 26, Abhimanyu Easwaran lbw b Mankad 9, Sudip Chatterjee c Vishvarajsinh b Dharmendrasinh 81, Manoj Tiwary lbw b Jani 35, Wriddhiman Saha b Mankad 64, Anustup Majumdar (batting) 58, Shahbaz Ahmed b Sakariya 16, Arnab Nandi (batting) 28; Extras (b-16, lb-14, nb-1, w-1, pen-5): 37; Total (for six wkts. in 147 overs): 354.
Fall of wickets: 1-35, 2-35, 3-124, 4-225, 5-241, 6-263.
Saurashtra bowling: Unadkat 30-8-84-0, Sakariya 23-6-52-1, Dharmendrasinh 50-14-106-2, Mankad 21-7-45-2, Jani 23-8-32-1.