Opener Prashant Chopra scored his second century of the season as Himachal Pradesh secured a draw against Bengal in the Ranji Trophy Group-A match at the Eden Gardens on Friday.
Chasing an improbable 472, Himachal, which began the fourth and final day from 79 for one, scored 348 for four in its second innings when the draw was agreed upon.
Bengal collected three points for taking the first innings lead, while Himachal got one.
With the track getting docile with the progress of the play, Bengal bowlers pinned their hopes on getting some help in the opening session.
However, the home team’s plan did work as Himachal batters played with confidence on a surface which assisted batting. The visiting side lost the lone wicket of Ankit Kalsi, who was caught behind off Sayan Mandal, in the first period.
Prior to that, the overnight pair of Chopra (109, 205b, 15x4) and Kalsi (82, 114b, 10x4), who cut and drove nicely on the off-side, played the deliveries on merit and added 146 runs for the second wicket to frustrate the Bengal bowler.
Chopra played sensibly to score his 10th first class hundred as he formed another noteworthy partnership of 61 runs with Amit Kumar (38, 52b, 7x4, 1x6).
Amit was retired hurt after getting a blow on his head, while Chopra was claimed by Akash Deep.
The following Himachal batters consumed enough time to deny Bengal full points.
“The pitch favoured the batters today. We could have done better in the first session to get a few quick wickets. But these things are part and parcel of a match. We now hope to win our next match against Nagaland,” said Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary.
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