At Lunch on Thursday, Bengal stood at 98/4. With the reliable Anustup Majumdar and Abishek Porel back in the hut, a first-innings lead looked dicey for Bengal in their Ranji Trophy opener.
But then senior pro Sudip Chatterjee (98) and Sumanta Gupta (82 batting) stood up. The duo forged a 156-run partnership for the fifth wicket at Eden Gardens to help Bengal acquire the crucial lead against Uttarakhand on Day II, ensuring they can finish with three points at least, if not an outright victory.
At stumps, Bengal were 274/6 with a lead of 61.
Chatterjee did all the hard work to overcome a laborious start and churned out strokes after gaining some fluency once he crossed the half-century mark. But on two short of what would have been his 14th first-class hundred, the left-hander unleashed an aerial flick off a pitched-up delivery from pacer Devendra Singh Bora, only to perish at the long-leg boundary.
It certainly couldn’t have been any more agonising for the 33-year-old opener, who was patient enough to go through the grind, only for his six hours of stay in the middle to end in that manner.
For Uttarakhand, they had a little more reason to cheer thereafter as pacer Rajan Kumar knocked over young all-rounder Vishal Bhati, who left the ball and saw his off-stump dismantled. That was the last ball of the day.
What though bodes well for Bengal is the presence of Gupta, who needs to continue with his good work on Friday. He would need to make sure that Bengal finish with a sizeable lead and can press for a win on a wicket where the ball is keeping low.
“It’s a double-paced wicket with low bounce. If we can add another 90 runs or more from here and take a 150-plus lead, our bowlers will have an opportunity to exploit the surface,” Gupta said later.
If the 34-year-old can get 18 more runs to reach three figures, it certainly will be a well-deserved maiden first-class hundred.
Though a bit late in his career, Gupta does seem to be doing well in turning things around, following a disastrous debut against Saurashtra in the 2022-23 Ranji final at
the Eden, where he tallied just two runs.
On Thursday, he braved a tough situation and batted with intent, making the going easier for Chatterjee as well.
Brief scores: Uttarakhand 213. Bengal 274/6 (Sudip Chatterjee 98, Sumanta Gupta 82 batting; Devendra Singh Bora 4/65).
At Stumps, Day II.
