Five-wicket hauls by Akash Deep and Shahbaz Ahmed helped Bengal gain the upper hand against Haryana at close on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Elite match in Lahli on Friday.
After posting 193 in their first innings, Bengal bundled out Haryana for just 100 to bag a vital lead. Sudip Chatterjee scored a fighting 86.
In their second innings, Bengal were 155/3 at the end of the second day’s play, with a lead of 248 runs.
Skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran (61 batting) and Sudip Kumar Gharami (61) were the main contributors for Bengal.
Table-toppers Bengal, who have already qualified for the quarter finals, thus stayedon course for a sixth win ofthe season and finish on top of the group.
A loss could prove costly for Haryana, currently second with 24 points, as Uttarakhand (22) are well placed to overtake them, holding a firm edge over Assam in their final league fixture in Dehradun.
Bowling in tandem, pacer Akash Deep and left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder Shahbaz wrapped up Haryana’s first innings in just 31.1 overs.
Their effort came after Bengal themselves suffered a batting collapse earlier in the morning, losing their last five wickets in 12.3 overs to be bowled out for 193, having resumed at 168/5.
Such was the menace created by the Akash-Shahbaz duo that Bengal needed only three bowlers in the innings, with Mukesh Kumar bowling just five overs.
Lad’s century
In Navi Mumbai, ‘crisis man’ Siddhesh Lad peeled off his fifth century of the season to give Mumbai a first-innings lead against Delhi in their final Group D clash.
The 33-year-old Lad hit 102 not out to record his fourth consecutive ton in the Ranji Trophy as Mumbai reached 266/5.
Lad found a stable partner in Suved Parkar (53 batting) as the two put on unbeaten 130 runs for the sixth wicket, giving back Mumbai the control after Delhi, who made 221 batting first, made inroads with regular strikes.
In Mohali, KL Rahul made a sublime half-century but Harpreet Brar helped Punjab reduce Karnataka to 255/6 in their first innings.
The visitors trail Punjab by 54 runs in a gamethat they must win to have a shot at qualification for the knock-out stage.
In Chandigarh, a stellar maiden Ranji double-century from Harvik Desai helped Saurashtra gain a mammoth 322-run first-innings lead against Chandigarh.
Jay Gohil (98) and Arpit Vasavada (96) missed out on a ton, but captain Desai ensured he kept his composure to end on an unbeaten 200 as Saurashtra declared their first inningson 453/3.
Brief scores: Bengal 193 (Sudip Chatterjee 86; Amit Rana 4/64; Tanmay Baloda 3/38) & 155/3 (Abhimanyu Easwaran 61 batting, Sudip Kumar Gharami 61; Rana 2/21). Haryana 100 (Akash Deep 5/40, Shahbaz Ahmed 5/42).At Stumps, Day II.