Sourav Ganguly at the Karnail Singh Stadium on Thursday. Picture by Prem Singh

New Delhi: An intense Sourav Ganguly played a mature hand in a 130-run unbroken stand with Dibyendu Chakrabarty for the sixth wicket to help Bengal recover from 127 for five to close the opening day of its Ranji Trophy Plate Division cricket semifinal against a steady and enthusiastic Goa on a slow track at the Karnail Singh Stadium here on Thursday.

Sourav’s knock was more valuable than the scoreboard would suggest.

The cold numbers would tell that he has made 69 runs (226 minutes, 146 balls, seven fours, one six) but they would never reveal how he seemed to conjure up a high level of motivation when confronted with the challenge of repairing the damage wrought by the fast medium bowler Saurabh Bandekar.

Bandekar claimed four wickets in the afternoon to cripple Bengal but Ganguly and Dibyendu Chakrabarty, who was batting on 75 (179 minutes, 134 balls, 11 fours), kept Bengal afloat with a battling stand.

That partnership was in contrast to the rush in which the wickets fell after the lunch break, three off them to catches by wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra.

After being asked to bat first, Bengal took a chance with Avik Chowdhury promoting him to open the innings with Anustup Majumdar. But that did not work as Chowdhury was done in by an outswinger that slipped past his tentative blade and hit the top of his off-stump in the fourth over of the day.

Anustup Majumdar and Wriddhiman Saha (53, 137 minutes, 111 balls, six fours and one six) shared a 96-run stand till lunch and it looked as if Bengal would rustle up a huge score.

It also looked as if Ganguly would not need to don his pads and continue alternating between sharing a conversation with CAB president Jagmohan Dalmiya and reading a newspaper.

West Bengal minister for urban development Ashok Bhattacharya was among those at hand to watch Sourav bail the team out of the morass it found itself in within half an hour of resumption.

Sourav’s 226-minute vigil and his three-hour stand made for gripping stuff that drew more people to the railway ground.

It was not an altogether unfamiliar situation for 26-year-old Dibyendu Chakrabarty. He had played a useful knock on debut and helped Bengal get the first innings lead against Vidarbha in the last league game.

But this time around, he had the assuring presence of Sourav for company and he was the first to concede that he evolved as a batsman during the partnership.

The 21-year-old Bandekar had done enough to catch Sourav’s eyes and make the former India captain enquire if he had signed up with any IPL team.

Incidentally, Bandekar toured Brisbane with Kolkata Knight Riders earlier this season, As his luck would have it, late in the day, Bandekar had a confident appeal for a catch at second slip off Sourav turned down.

Dalmiya, who spent nearly the whole day at the Karnail Singh Stadium, paid Sourav’s competitive spirit handsome tribute at the end of day.

“Sourav has shown again that he has so much cricket left in him,” he said, echoing the feeling that many in the galleries had been expressing through the wintry afternoon.