ASSAM : Overnight showers swept away the possibility of an outright win by Bengal . The umpires had to delay the start of Day 4 as the outfield was wet . The wicket also seemed wet as some rain water might have swept in under the covers . The delay in the start of the match ruined Bengal’s chances of an outright win . The hosts managed to save the match, courtesy a patient half-century by opener Pallav Kumar Das. He hit five fours in his 182-ball innings. Bengal captain Manoj Tiwari had to be satisfied with 3 points . Both Bengal and Assam qualified for the knockout stage of the Ranji Trophy after grabbing three and one point respectively. While Bengal had already ensured their place in the quarterfinals after they forced Assam to follow on Thursday, the hosts managed to sneak into the knockout stage after denying the visitors an outright win, finishing at 143 for 8 on the fourth and final day.
Bengal and Assam occupied the second and third place with 28 and 26 points respectively in the Group A points table, headed by Vidarbha with 29 points.
Earlier Assam, who had conceded a massive 301-run first innings lead to Bengal, resumed their second innings at 72 for 2 on Friday but they found the going tough as wickets fell at regular intervals.
Bengal off-spinner Aamir Gani raised hopes of an outright win as he returned with a five-wicket haul but the visitors could not provide the finishing touch as the match ended in a draw.
Skipper Gokul Sharma (10) was the first to be dismissed on Friday when he was cleaned up by Mukesh Kumar. Arun Karthik then returned to be pavillion when he was bowled by Gani in the 56th over.
In the 63rd over, Assam lost half their side when Tarjinder Singh too was dismissed by Gani with Pankaj Shaw taking the catch. One over later, Das was caught by Manoj Tiwary off Pragyan Ojha.
Amit Sinha and J Syed Mohammad then dug their heels and saw off 9.2 overs, scoring only three runs, while Amit and Wasiqur Rahman played the next 9.3 overs putting up just 14 runs to save the match.
Captain Manoj Tiwari looked visibly upset , but lauded the effort of his team mates ,“It was a great effort from the team .It was a huge improvement in the performance from last year as we had to fight relegation . But the youngsters this year have put up a brilliant performance and we have a good chance to go all the way to the finals .”
Young Amir Gani never looked at being overshadowed by experienced Ojha . The right arm spinner picked his second 5 wicket haul in his first class career . During the last match against Orissa , Gani picked 6 wickets and followed it up with another 5 wickets in the second innings against Assam . Gani credited coach Bahutule for such turnaround ,“ A lot of credit should go to Bahutule Sir as he helped me overcome my failure in the first innings . ”
Bengal are likely to meet Madhya Pradesh in the quarter finals which will start on February 03 .
Brief Score:
Bengal: 444/6 declared
Assam 1st innings: 143 in 54.4 overs
Assam 2nd innings: 143-8 from 84 overs (PP Das 55; AA Gani 5/62).