Bengal moved to a strong position on the penultimate day of its Elite ‘C’ Ranji Trophy match against Karnataka here on Friday.
Bengal fast bowler Ishan Porel did the damage in the morning session, picking up three quick wickets to bowl Karnataka out for 221.
Sitting on an 80-run innings lead, Bengal took a cautious approach in the second essay to move to 127 for three. With an overall advantage of 207 runs, Bengal could push for a win on Saturday.
Resuming on 155 for five, Karnataka counted on overnight batters Abhinav Manohar and Shreyas Gopal to build a big partnership. This was not to be, as Shreyas (28) fell caught-behind to Porel in the fourth over of the day.
A short while later, the home team was struck a body blow when Manohar was taken by wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha. The big appeal for an inside edge was upheld by the umpire, even as Manohar expressed his discontent.
Young Hardik Raj (11) was sent back attempting a tight single, when substitute Pradipta Pramanik threw down the stumps. Vidyadhar Patil (33) and V. Koushik (11) offered some resistance, putting on 40 runs for the ninth wicket. Vidyadhar gave a good account of his batting abilities, striking it clean and far when deliveries were in his arc.
Karnataka’s hopes of getting close to the Bengal total evaporated when fast bowler Suraj Sindhu cleaned up Vidyadhar’s stumps.
Bengal openers Shuvam Dey (30) and Sudip Chatterjee (48) blunted the new ball threat with grit and patience. By the time the duo was sent back - both to thick edges - Karnataka had lost ground.
In the evening session, a Vidyadhar peach stunned first-innings centurion Anustup Majumdar. The Bengal skipper pressed forward to defend, but Vidyadhar snuck the ball between bat and pad to flatten the middle stump.
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