Sudip Chatterjee (78 batting) led from the front for Bengal on a truncated opening day of their final group-stage clash against Haryana in Lahli.
The left-hander, fresh off his 209 in Bengal’s innings victory over Services, came up with another significant contribution, holding the innings together after his team somewhat lost the plot following a sound start.
Bengal were 168/5 at stumps on Thursday, where only 58 overs of play were possible due to intense fog. That, despite a 61-run opening stand between captain Abhimanyu Easwran and Sudip after Haryana won the toss and opted to bowl first.
After Easwaran’s dismissal, the otherwise consistent Anustup Majumdar, all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed and Sumanta Gupta fell quickly as Bengal lost their next four wickets for just 97. Giving Sudip company at the other end is keeper-batter Shakir Habib Gandhi, batting on one.
Solid in defence, Sudip’s innings so far comprises five boundaries. For Haryana, young left-arm orthodox Tanmay Baloda took 3/38 from 11 overs.
Bengal have gone into this game without senior pacer Mohammed Shami, who has been rested, with Akash Deep and Mukesh as their specialist quicks in the XI. Left-arm spinner Vikas Singh was given a first-class debut, with Rahul Prasad being the other tweaker alongside Shahbaz.
Jurel shines
In Nagpur, India international Dhruv Jurel (96) missed out on a deserving ton as his team Uttar Pradesh were all out for 237, after a six-wicket haul from Vidarbha left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey on Day I of their final group A fixture.
At stumps, Vidarbha (25 points), looking at an outright win to qualify for the quarter finals, were 33/0.
At the BKC ground in Mumbai, Sanat Sangwan struck a fine hundred for Delhi before they were shot out for 221 in their group D clash, with Mumbai medium-pacer Mohit Avasthi taking 5/62. Mumbai were 13/1 at stumps on Thursday.
Mumbai’s Sarfaraz Khan, his younger brother Musheer and spinner Himanshu Singh were seen wearing face masks during the third session’s play for about half-an-hour or so while fielding.
The AQI (air quality index) on Thursday hovered around 160 with the conditions being “unhealthy.
Brief scores: Bengal 168/5 (Sudip Chatterjee 78 batting; Tanmay Baloda 3/38) vs Haryana. At stumps, Day I.
Written with PTI inputs