Koushik Ghosh and Anustup Majumdar’s unbeaten 95-run partnership kept Bengal on course for victory over Uttar Pradesh in its Ranji Trophy Group-A match at the Eden Gardens on Thursday.
After Uttar Pradesh, beginning from overnight 122 for four, closed its second innings at 227 and set a target of 257, Bengal scored 156 for two at stumps on the penultimate day.
The host needs another 101 runs on the final day to secure an outright victory.
With five sessions at its disposal, Bengal began positively and maintained a good run rate on a pitch that looked flatter.
Following Abhisek Das’ dismissal in the third over, Koushik and Sudip Gharami batted with confidence to add 43 runs for the second wicket.
Gharami departed after poking Mavi in the 14th over.
The experienced duo of left-handed opener Koushik (69 batting, 121b, 10x4) and Anustup (44 batting, 88b, 6x4) made light of their injured hands to bat responsibly and tilt the contest in Bengal’s favour. They chose the loose deliveries to get boundaries and rotated the strike well.
A determined Koushik, who was dropped twice, showcased his shots on either side and got his third half-century.
A habitual rescuer, Anustup displayed his disciplined game and provided optimism to the home side.
Earlier, the overnight unbeaten pair of Rinku Singh (89, 113b, 12x4) and Akshdeep Nath (53, 71b, 7x4, 1x6) batted resolutely to forge a 102-run association.
Akash Deep provided the breakthrough as Nath hooked straight to deep fine-leg after reaching his 50.
A single-minded Rinku, who scored his second successive half-century of the match, carried on to help Uttar Pradesh set a decent target. The southpaw, who cut Pritam Chakraborty to third man, was the eighth wicket to fall.
Bengal bowlers’ combined effort did not let the Uttar Pradesh second essay prolong beyond the opening session.
The scores:
Uttar Pradesh – 1 st innings: 198
Bengal – 1 st innings: 169
Uttar Pradesh – 2 nd innings: Madhav Kaushik b Akash 19, Aanjaneya Suryavanshi b Ishan 4, Priyam Garg lbw b Ishan 0, Karan Sharma lbw b Mandal 5, Rinku Singh c Akash b Chakraborty 89, Akshdeep Nath c Mandal b Akash 53, Aaradhya Yadav b Shahbaz 5, Shivam Mavi c Tiwary b Mandal 5, Shivam Sharma (not out) 26, Aaqib Khan b Chakraborty 7, Ankit Rajpoot c Chakraborty b Akash 8, Extras (lb-3, nb-1, w-2) 6, Total (in 65.3 overs) 227
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-6, 3-27, 4-40, 5-142, 6-159, 7-183, 8-185, 9-197
Bengal bowling: Ishan 19-3-70-2, Akash 19.3-2-52-3, Chakraborty 13-1-48-2, Mandal 8-0-24-2, Shahbaz 6-1-30-1
Bengal – 2 nd innings: Abhisek Das c Priyam b Mavi 9, Koushik Ghosh (batting) 69, Sudip Gharami c Priyam b Mavi 22, Anustup Majumdar (batting) 44, Extras (b-4, lb-7, nb-1) 12, Total (for two wickets in 42 overs) 156
Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-61
Uttar Pradesh bowling: Mavi 11-1-46-2, Rajpoot 9-0-24-0, Aaqib 9-1-27-0, Shivam 7-1-28-0, Karan 6-1-20-0.
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