The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Irfan and Pinal to Baroda’s rescue

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Irfan and Pinal to Baroda’s rescue

Special Correspondent

KOLKATA: Though overcast sky, green tinge on the pitch, the toss and early wickets favoured Bengal, Irfan Pathan and Pinal Shah’s determined batting display enabled Baroda reach a respectable 219 for six at close on the first day of their four-day Ranji Trophy Super League match at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday.

Medium pacer Sourav Sarkar, known for his swing bowling, made use of the conditions by removing opener Satyajit Parab and No. 3 Azhar Bilakhia within a space of two balls in his second over after Baroda was put in.

Captain Connor Williams dropped anchor and with veteran Jacob Martin guided the side past the half century mark in15.5 overs. Bengal skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla brought in debutant all-rounder Sayan Sekhar Mondal, 20, into the attack and tried various combinations to break up the pair.

Shukla moved the ball around and his lack of pace made stroke-making difficult. He tasted success by having Williams caught behind by Deep Dasgupta for 30 in the 29th over to break a stand that had added 60 valuable runs for the third wicket.

Rakesh Solanki’s quick dismissal put Baroda under pressure once again and when Martin left after a well-compiled 46 (176m, 112b, 7x4) at the team’s total of 106, it looked Bengal was back in the game.

In walked Irfan to join his brother Yusuf and the latter produced a 29-run cameo in 38 balls to add 40 runs for the sixth wicket. After Yusuf left, hoisting off-spinner Sourasish Lahiri to Bose, wicketkeeper Pinal Shah joined Irfan and the visitor’s best part unfolded.

The two flourished, as the pitch eased out, to add an unbroken 73 runs for the seventh wicket in four minutes less than two hours off 28 overs.

The scores: Baroda — 1st innings: S. Parab b Sarkar 1, C. Williams c Dasgupta b Shukla 30, A. Bilakhia c Das b Sarkar 0, J. Martin c Mondal b Bose 46, R. Solanki lbw b Shukla 9, Y. Pathan c Bose b Lahiri 29, I. Pathan (batting) 42, P. Shah (batting) 41, Extras (b-6, lb-9, nb-2, w-4) 21, Total (for six wkts. in 80 overs) 219.

Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-7, 3-67, 4-88, 5-106, 6-146.

Bengal bowling: Bose 21-7-56-1, Sarkar 22-6-50-2, Mondal 8-1-33-0, Shukla 17-4-38-2, Lahiri 11-0-23-1, Jhunjhunwala 1-0-4-0.

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