Bengal could not build sufficiently on their solid show with the bat on the first day of their Ranji Trophy match against Tripura in Agartala as they lost as many as eight wickets on the second day.
Resuming at an overnight score of 171/1, Bengal finished the rain-hit second day on 336/9. With rain robbing much of Sunday’s action, this match might turn into a contest of first-innings scores. If it turns out like that, Bengal might rue not adding more runs to their first innings total.
But all hope is not over yet, as all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed was still at the crease when the stumps were drawn on Sunday.
He was batting on 40 and the team will depend on him to add some valuable runs to the total on the third day morning as well. It will then be up to the bowling attack, led by Mohammed Shami.
Despite the day not being too good for the Bengal batters, Sudip Gharami deserves praise for recording his sixth first-class hundred. He also shared a double century stand with Habib Gandhi, the other overnight not out batter.
In the morbing session on Sunday, Gharami and Gandhi initially looked untroubled by the Tripura attack.
Promoted to open in the absence of skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran and the injured Sudip Chatterjee, Gharami brought up his hundred with a well-timed sweep and went on to make a patient 108 off 250 balls with the help of 15 fours.
Gandhi, however, missed the three-figure mark. He missed what would have been his maiden first-class hundred by just five runs. He fell for 95, caught by substitute Rajat Dey at deep square leg off Rana Datta.
Thereafter, the Bengal batters kept losing their wickets cheaply. Veteran Anustup Majumdar (6) was the next to go. He was soon followed to the hut by Sumanta Gupta and stand-in captain Abishek Porel. The team lost four wickets for just 25 runs.
Besides Shahbaz, Rahul Prasad, the No. 8 batter, offered some resistance with an innings of 35.
Rana Datta was the pick of Tripura’s bowlers with figures of 3/76 from 23 overs, while Manisankar Murasingh returned a tidy 2/56 from 27 overs.
Brief scores: Bengal 336/9 (Sudip Gharami 108, Habib Gandhi 95; Rana Dutta 3/76) vs Tripura.
