KOLKATA: Bad light continues to trouble Bengal as they ended Day II of their Elite Group ‘B’
Ranji Trophy
match against Chhattisgarh at 381 for eight after another truncated day of action where only 55 overs of play were possible at the Eden Gardens on Saturday. The whole first session of play was lost due to fog and poor light as the game resumed only after the lunch break.
With two days of play left, chances of an outright result are fading, but Bengal have their nose ahead and will now hope for an impressive show from their bowlers to earn maximum points.
The 120-run fifth-wicket stand between overnight undefeated batters Anushtup Majumder and
Abhishek Porel
came to an end when the former edged one to Ashutosh Singh at first slip off pacer Sourabh Majumdar to depart for 71. But Abhishek, who opened the scoring of the day with a four to get to his half-century, carried on to post his maiden first-class hundred just after the tea break. More importantly, the wicketkeeper-batter was involved in two meaningful partnerships — 46-run sixth-wicket stand with debutant Subham Chatterjee and 33 runs for the seventh wicket with Karan Lal — that took Bengal score past the 300-run mark.
Abhishek played a much restrained innings on Saturday without any heroics. He survived some close calls, but managed to keep his head down to prolong his innings. The youngster was finally bowled by pacer Vasudev Bareth for 114 which came off 219 balls with the help of 14 boundaries and one six.
“Scoring big in red ball cricket is special as I dream of playing Test cricket for the country,” Abhishek said after the day’s play.
Suraj Jaiswal, who played an important knock against Uttar Pradesh in the last match, once again came good with the bat, remaining undefeated on 33. He did not hesitate to play his shots and hit five fours and one six during his 51-ball stay in the middle. All-rounder Karan Lal is giving him company on undefeated 24.
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