Bengal pursuit of securing a berth in the Ranji Trophy final after 13 years continued. The hosts took an upper hand over Karnataka at the end of day three in the semifinal at the Eden Gardens here on Monday.
Resuming at 72 for four, Bengal made 161 in its second innings and set Karnataka a stiff target of 352. The visitors were 98 for three at stumps.
Testing conditions
Sudip Chatterjee and Anustup Majumdar, the overnight Bengal batsmen, fought for an hour in testing conditions in the morning.
Chatterjee (45, 94b, 8x4) had a lucky escape on 44 when he was hit wicket. Ronit More, who had Majumdar caught off a no-ball on Sunday, had overstepped again.
Later, More, bowling a good line, had Chatterjee — who survived a caught-behind call off Abhimanyu Mithun — and Shreevats Goswami off successive deliveries.
Using DRS
The gutsy Majumdar (41, 108b, 4x4) — who received some blows and used the DRS successfully after being adjudged caught-behind off Prasidh Krishna — played another responsible knock in difficult circumstances.
He added 61 with Shahbaz Ahmed (31, 40b, 4x4, 1x6) to increase the lead to 340.
Off-spinner K. Gowtham picked up three wickets, including that of Shahbaz and Majumdar, and Mithun captured his fourth to restrict Bengal.
Rahul goes early
Karnataka’s chase was jolted early as Ishan Porel, continuing his dazzling form, hit K.L. Rahul’s back leg off the second ball.
However, R. Samarth (27, 69b, 2x4) and Devdutt Padikkal (50 batting, 109b, 6x4) showed a lot of grit for nearly two hours.
Bengal mobilised its resources better when Manoj Tiwary, who had a hand injury, returned to the field.
A hardworking Akash Deep rapped Samarth’s back foot and Bengal used the DRS to turn the decision in its favour. Mukesh got rid of Karnataka captain Karun Nair.
A disciplined Padikkal, who hit some fine boundaries and scored a fifty after seven innings, and Manish Pandey, led Karnataka’s fight.
The scores:
Bengal — 1st innings: 312.
Karnataka — 1st innings: 122.
Bengal — 2nd innings: Abhishek Raman c Sharath b Mithun 1, Abhimanyu Easwaran b Mithun 11, Sudip Chatterjee lbw b More 45, Arnab Nandi lbw b Mithun 0, Manoj Tiwary c Sharath b Prasidh 13, Anustup Majumdar st Sharath b Gowtham 41, Shreevats Goswami c Sharath b More 0, Shahbaz Ahmed lbw b Gowtham 31, Akash Deep c Sharath b Mithun 1, Mukesh Kumar (not out) 6, Ishan Porel st Sharath b Gowtham 0; Extras (b-2, lb-8, nb-2): 12, Total (in 54.4 overs): 161.
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-23, 3-23, 4-61, 5-89, 6-89, 7-150, 8-153, 9-155.
Karnataka bowling: Mithun 16-5-23-4, Prasidh 16-2-45-1, More 13-1-56-2, Gowtham 7.4-4-1-3, Karun 2-0-12-0.
Karnataka — 2nd innings: K.L. Rahul lbw b Porel 0, R. Samarth lbw b Akash 27, Devdutt Padikkal (batting) 50, Karun Nair lbw b Mukesh 6, Manish Pandey (batting) 11; Extras (b-2, lb-2): 4; Total (for three wkts. in 38 overs): 98.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-57, 3-76.
Bengal bowling: Porel 12-4-19-1, Mukesh 12-1-33-1, Akash 10-1-32-1, Nandi 4-0-10-0 .
