Kolkata: Bengal were bowled out for 289 before bad light halted play on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match against Andhra here on Thursday.
There were three interruptions before Bengal innings folded in 104 overs at 1:35pm. Poor visibility eventually forced the day’s proceedings to be called off with Andhra yet to bat in their first innings.
Only 101 minutes of play was possible on the day, during which 21 overs were bowled, as Bengal lost their remaining six wickets in 48 runs after resuming at 241/4.
Left-handed opener Abhishek Raman was dismissed for 112 in the second ball of the day, adding just two runs to his overnight total.
Raman was cleaned up by Stephen and after four overs in the morning the match was held up for 20 minutes.
On resumption at 9.27 am, Bengal were unable to get a partnership going as Shahbaz Ahmed became Stephen’s fourth victim. The pacer returned figures of 4/78.
Then, due to solar eclipse, the match was again held up for two hours, as Bengal had an extended lunch break stretching till 11.48.
With the light playing hide and seek, Bengal kept losing wickets as their last four wickets could add just nine runs.
“It was difficult to bat today, we were hoping to reach 350 but we lost Raman in the first over of the day and there were frequent interruptions in between. Even we did not get to bowl,” Bengal mentor and coach Arun Lal said.
Bengal will not have their pace spearhead Ashok Dinda, who has been suspended for misconduct, but Lal expressed confidence about his bowling attack and said 289 was a par total.
“We are very positive. It’s not easy batting there. It requires good technique and concentration. Still I think we are very much in the game if we can get quick wickets. We have to able to play full days,” he said.
In Group C, opener Shantanu Mishra remained unbeaten on 54 to help Odisha secure a first innings lead over Uttarakhand.
Resuming on 98/3, Odisha lost Biplab Samantray for 37 after he was trapped by Pradeep Chamoli (2/36) in the third over of the day.
Mishra stayed on even as wickets kept on falling at the other end on a day when only 16.2 overs were possible, helping Odisha go past Uttarakhand’s first innings total of 117.
At the Palam A Stadium in New Delhi, medium pacer Manishankar Murasingh returned brilliant figures of 7/63, as Tripura bundled out Services for 173 for a first innings lead of 47 runs.
Summarised Scores
In Cuttack: Uttarakhand 117. Odisha 145/6; 55.2 overs (Shantanu Mishra 54 batting).
In Jamshedpur: Haryana 285/6; 91 overs (C Bishnoi 75 batting, Ankit Kumar 53, Shivam Chauhan 53, Harshal Patel 47 batting) vs Jharkhand.
In Delhi: Tripura 126 and 16/1; 8 overs. Services 173; 53.3 overs (Arjun Sharma 54; Manisankar Murasingh 7/63).
In Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir 210/2; 52 overs (Shubham Khajuria 87 batting, Suryansh Raina 73) vs Assam.
In Pune: Maharashtra 289; 95.4 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 108, Vishant More 53; Veer Pratap Singh 5/80). Chhattisgarh 131/3; 47 overs (Harpreet Singh 59 batting).
PTI
