Internet Desk: Bengal batsmen led by Manoj Tiwary employed a cautious approach against a disciplined Tamil Nadu attack that restricted them to 190 for 3 on the first day of the Ranji Trophy group A encounter.
Skipper Tiwary did all the hardwork to reach 56 off 161 balls with five boundaries before he was caught and bowled by left-arm spinner R Aushik Srinivas.
Young left-hander Agniv Pan (51 batting) continued his good form while Bengal were dealt a blow with dependable left-hander Sudeep Chatterjee having to retire hurt at 34 due to a pulled hamstring.
After the day’s play Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary told,”The wicket is good for batting but they bowled really well. Tamil Nadu fielders have backed their bowlers with great fielding as well, that’s why we batted slowly but stadily.”
About Sudip chatterjee’s injury he added,” This is a very crucial match for Bengal and Sudip will bat tomorrow. In my view this is a 3 points match and we have to bat well tomorrow to put a respective total on the board.”
Opting to bat on a slow track, opener Sayan Sekhar Mondal (0) failed to open his account caught by Baba Aparajith off seamer Thangarasu Natarajan.
Right hander Abhimanyu Easwaran (31 off 98 balls) and Chatterjee took the score to 51 before he was castled by medium pacer Aswin Crist. Easwaran hit three boundaries.
Skipper Tiwary and Chatterjee were negotiating the deliveries cautiously as the ball was not coming onto the bat.
With the score at 79, Chatterjee hobbled out with Pan joining his skipper. The duo added 80 plus runs but could never set the tempo despite the fact that Bengal are playing with five specialist bowlers.
Seamer Crist was the parsimonious giving away only 19 runs in 19 overs.
The Bengal batsmen went into such a shell that they couldn’t even get away young off-spinner MS Washington Sundar who went for only 36 from 18 overs.
Pan however showed some intent during his 131 ball knock that had seven boundaries and a six. However Tiwary’s second half-century didn’t help Bengal much as he committed to a stroke as Srinivas got a return catch.
Pan had Shreevats Goswami for company, batting on 15.
Brief Scores:
Bengal 190/3 (Manoj Tiwary 56, Agniv Pan 51 batting, Abhimanyu Easwaran 31, Sudeep Chatterjee 34 Retd hurt, Aswin Crist 1/19, R Aushik Srinivas 1/33) vs Tamil Nadu.