Onus on bowlers as Bengal sniff victory against Delhi in Ranji Trophy opener

Centurions Sudip Gharami and Abishek Porel couldn’t add much to their overnight scores. But Bengal still find themselves with a fantastic chance to begin
their Ranji Trophy campaign with a victory.

At Stumps on Day III, at the Bengal Cricket Academy ground in Kalyani, Delhi stumbled to 101/3 in their second essay, trailing by another 88 runs, after Bengal’s first innings ended at 429.

To make matters tougher for Delhi, their No. 3 batsman, Yash Dhull, couldn’t bat on Tuesday after being hit on the chest off the very first ball he faced. However, it was learnt that he’s fit to bat on Wednesday, the final day of the game.

Though wicketless, Mohammed Shami was at his disciplined and incisive best once again, following his 4/30 in the first innings. His pace colleagues Akash Deep and Mukesh Kumar looked sharper as well, particularly the former, who was a bit expensive in the first innings.

It was Akash who gave Bengal the breakthrough in the eighth over of Delhi’s second innings, when he cleaned up Sarthak Ranjan. After Dhull retired hurt, Sanat Sangwan and Ayush Doseja tried to string a partnership before Mukesh stepped up.

Doseja nicked one to substitute keeper Shakir Habib Gandhi to give Mukesh his first wicket in the innings so far. A little later, left-arm spinner Pradipta Pramanik knocked Sangwan over to leave Delhi wobbling at 59/3.

Ayush Badoni (24 batting), who took a five-for with the ball earlier in the day, and Anuj Rawat ensured the visitors avoided further damage till Stumps. Together, they have added 42 so far.

Bengal will certainly be looking to make the most of the final morning with a burst from Shami and Akash.
Head coach Laxmi Ratan Shukla, though, feels another wicket or two on Tuesday would have put his team in an even better situation.

“It would’ve been good had we picked up another wicket or two. At the moment, there’s still a lot of fight left to be done,” Shukla said.

The Kalyani pitch has so far been pretty good for batting. But Bengal hope
there will be a little bit of extra purchase for the spinners on Day IV.

Earlier, resuming on 304/3, Gharami and Porel extended their fourth-wicket partnership to 229. Sumanta Gupta, after an impressive last season, contributed with a brisk 50 off 62 balls to push Bengal’s total past 400.

Brief scores: Delhi 240 & 101/3 (Anuj Rawat 25 batting; Akash Deep 1/15, Mukesh Kumar 1/17). Bengal 429 (Sudip Gharami 133, Abishek Porel 149; Ayush Badoni 5/43). At Stumps, Day III.