The skies remained bright for a good part of Monday, and as expected, Bengal took the first-innings lead against Gujarat in their ongoing Ranji Trophy clash at Eden Gardens. But will Bengal be able to force a win and bag six points once again?
Going into the final day of this game, Bengal have an overall lead of 282, after finishing the third day at 170/6. Earlier in the day, left-armer Shahbaz Ahmed finished with 6/34 as Bengal bowled Gujarat out for 167 to take a 112-run first-innings lead.
The slow Eden pitch has left the hosts very annoyed, but given the strength of Bengal’s bowling attack and how the Gujarat batting capitulated in the first innings,
Abhimanyu Easwaran and Co. can certainly afford to declare on their overnight second-essay total and let the likes of Mohammed Shami, Akash Deep and Shahbaz go out all guns blazing against the visitors.
Sudip Gharami at the crease on Monday. Picture by Sanat Kuma
However, the team management seems keen on batting for “another 20 to 25 minutes” on Tuesday and adding a few more runs to put the game beyond Gujarat’s reach. Now, there’s every possibility of the weather being a major hurdle in Bengal’s charge for a win.
On Monday, too, the last 15-20 minutes of play weren’t possible due to fading light. So, the hosts do need to keep that in mind as the weather may force them to remain satisfied with just three points.
In all fairness, Bengal certainly had the opportunity to go a step or two closer to victory on the penultimate day itself. They had Gujarat at 108/8 early in the morning session, but in pursuit of the last two wickets, the bowlers gave away as many as 59 runs.
Thereafter, the Bengal batters needed to be a little more proactive in their approach, but barring Sudip Gharami, who scored his second fifty of the match, and Shahbaz, the other batters were just as disappointing.
In fact, if not for senior pro Anustup Majumdar (44 batting), who enjoyed a bit of fortune early on, the situation could have been worse for Bengal.
Shami puzzle
It remains uncertain whether Shami will be available for Bengal’s next game, against Tripura in Agartala from Saturday. The 35-year-old pacer has already bowled 58 overs
so far across both Ranji matches and is set for a decent workload on Tuesday as well when Gujarat begin their second innings.
If Bengal bag a win in the ongoing clash, Shami could be rested for the Tripura game, sources in the Cricket Association of Bengal said.
Opener Sudip Chatterjee, who hurt his left knee on Sunday and couldn’t bat in the second innings, will be out for the next two to three weeks.
Brief scores: Bengal 279 & 170/6 (Sudip Gharami 54, Anustup Majumdar 44 batting; Siddharth Desai 4/48). Gujarat 167 (Manan Hingrajia 80 n.o; Shahbaz Ahmed 6/34, Mohammed Shami 3/44). At stumps, Day III.
