Ranji Trophy: Bengal ride on hope but settle for a draw

For about half an hour post lunch on the final day, Bengal rode on hope. Faint hope to be precise. Rajasthan top order was on hara-kiri mode, elevating Ashok Dinda and Veer Pratap Singh’s medium pace to exalted status. But time was the biggest factor here and the hosts were on the wrong side of it. They had to settle for a draw.

After two virtually washed out days, this Ranji Trophy fixture at Eden Gardens had become a battle of first innings. Bengal posted 282, replying to Rajasthan’s 198 and it gave them three points. The visitors didn’t deserve to get anything out of this contest but a truncated affair helped them return with one point. It was a lucky escape.

jQuery(document).ready(function(){ jQuery('.rel-article').bxSlider({ maxSlides: 6, slideMargin: 3 }); });

Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary was a little too naive, for he hoped to bowl out the rivals inside three-figures in their second innings. “It takes just 10 wicket-taking balls to take 10 wickets,” he had said after third day’s play.

With Rajasthan reeling at 15 for three inside seven overs in their second innings, Tiwary must have thought about pulling off a heist. Dinda accounted for Suryaprakash Suwalka and Vineet Saxena with his outswingers.

Both showed very little footwork and nicked the ball to the keeper. Ankit Lamba missed a straight delivery from Veer Pratap and was out leg before. Skipper Ashok Menaria and Puneet Yadav survived some close calls but dug in to add 95 runs for the fourth wicket. They offset Bengal’s 84-run first innings lead and once the deficit was erased, the game became a drab affair. Ten wicket-taking balls very rarely decide contests at first-class level.

Earlier, resuming on overnight 136 for three, Bengal batted long enough to put pressure on the opposition.
Tiwary missed the chance to score back-to-back hundreds when he was stumped by Dishant Yagnik off left-arm spinner Ajay Singh on 83. But the innings of the morning came from debutant Pankaj Shaw, who made 52 off 66 balls. It was clean hitting from the youngster. Along with former India U-19 player Aamir Gani, he added 45 runs en route ensuring three points safely.

The hosts, however, suffered a blow during Rajasthan’s second innings as Abhimanyu Easwaran split his finger, going for a sharp catch offered by Yadav. The injury rules him out of the next two games, against Delhi and Haryana.

Brief scores: Rajasthan 198 all out and 146/5 in 57 overs (Ashok Menaria 69*; Ashok Dinda 2/21) drew with Bengal 282 all out in 90.3 overs (Manoj Tiwary 83; Ajay Singh 3/72).