Internet Desk: A resounding task is in front of Bengal batsmen when they will come to bat against Vidarbha in the Ranji Trophy Group D encounter at the Kalyani Stadium tomorrow. In the second innings they still need 206 runs more to avoid an innings defeat at home with seven wickets in hand.
In reply to a mammoth of a total of 499 posted by the visitors, Bengal began the day at 89/3. Vidarbha bowlers bowled brilliantly against the hosts to wrap them up on mere 207 and took a lead of 292 runs in the first innings.
Vidarbha decided to enforce the follow-on against Bengal. In the second innings Vidarbha pace spearhead Lalit Yadav just destroyed the Bengal top-order by picking the wickets of Abhishek Raman and Koushik Ghosh in a span of just three deliveries.
At stumps, Bengal was struggling at 86 for three in the second innings.Skipper Manoj Tiwary was unbeaten on 36 with star left hand batsman Sudip Chatterjee on 40. They have shared a 76-run for the fourth wicket.
Gurbani (2/43) made another breakthrough in the first session in the form of Wriddhiman Saha, who got out for zero after consuming 39 deliveries, as the Bengal innings wobbled after the departure of the two experienced players.
Batting at a snail’s pace, Ghosh took 138 balls to bring up his fifty, and got out at the same score after facing seven more deliveries.
Akshay Wakhare added two more — Shreevats Goswami (9) and Aamir Gani (11) — to take his tally to three wickets and it was a matter of time before Bengal’s first innings folded in 81 overs with Aditya Sarwate dismissing Ashok Dinda and Ishan Porel in five balls.
“We will have to bat till tea in the second innings and we will try our best to secure a draw,” skipper Tiwary said after the days’ play.
A loss for third-placed Bengal, who are on 13 points after three matches, would deal a big blow to their knockout hopes.
In another match, Swapnil Singh broke an eleven-year jinx as he scored his maiden first-class ton, a knock of 164 without a blemish, to help Baroda take a massive first-innings lead of 404 runs against Mumbai on day three of the Ranji Trophy Group C match.
And then Baroda had the hosts and 41-time champions on the ropes at 102 for 4, with Mumbai needing 302 runs more to avoid an embarrassing innings defeat in their landmark 500th Ranji game.
A determined display by the Odisha batsmen kept Tamil Nadu bowlers at bay as the host finished at 286 for 4 at the end of the third day’s play in a Ranji Trophy Group “C” match.
Openers Natraj Behera and Sandeep Pattanaik, resuming at 36 for no loss, frustrated the Tamil Nadu attack with a century stand.
Brief Scores:
In Kalyani
Vidarbha 499; Bengal 207, 81 overs (Koushik Ghosh 50, Manoj Tiwary 50; Akshay Wakhare 3/45, Lalit Yadav 2/43, Rajneesh Gurbani 2/43, Aditya Sarwate 2/27) and f/o 86/3, 29 overs (Sudeep Chatterjee 40 batting, Manoj Tiwary 36 batting; Yadav 3/16).
Other Scores:
Odisha 286/4 trail Tamil Nadu 530/8 by 244 runs
Andhra 402 and 51/1 lead Tripura 315 by 138 runs
J&K 376 and 246/7 lead Jharkhand 292/9 by 330 runs
Chhattisgarh 389/6 lead Himachal 175 by 214 runs
Services 263 and 108/3 lead Goa 270 by 101 runs
Haryana 223 and 179/5 lead Rajasthan 150 by 252 runs
Railways 330/5 trail Maharashtra 481 by 151 runs