Ranji Trophy: A. Eswaran and S. Goswami shine for Bengal

Opting to bat, Bengal lost opener Prosenjit Das cheaply to Chandrakant Sakure but his partner Abhishek Raman showed some patience while gathering 36, including six boundaries collected primarily on the onside. Raman was bowled off Madhya Pradesh pace ace Ishwar Pandey.

Eswaran, who survived a caught behind appeal off Pandey, hit eight fours all over the park except the point boundary in his well-crafted 68 not out.

Bengal rode on Abhimanyu Eswaran and Shreevats Goswami’s unbeaten half-centuries to score 185 for four on the opening day of its Ranji Trophy Group ‘A’ match against Madhya Pradesh at the Palam Ground here on Wednesday.

Opting to bat, Bengal lost opener Prosenjit Das cheaply to Chandrakant Sakure but his partner Abhishek Raman showed some patience while gathering 36, including six boundaries collected primarily on the onside. Raman was bowled off Madhya Pradesh pace ace Ishwar Pandey.

> SCORECARD

Eswaran batted watchfully to play the sheet-anchor’s role to perfection even though southpaw Sudip Chatterjee was out for a duck to become Sakure’s second victim. Bengal was in a spot of bother at 52 for three in the 19th over.

Eswaran added 35 runs with Manoj Tiwary (15) to make some groundwork for recovery and continued the good work with Goswami even after the Bengal captain’s fall at 88.

Eswaran, who survived a caught behind appeal off Pandey, hit eight fours all over the park except the point boundary in his well-crafted 68 not out.

Goswami gathered runs at a comparatively quicker pace and struck eight fours, seven of them in the ‘V,’ in his unbeaten 52.

Eswaran and Goswami stood for an unbroken 97-run stand for the fifth wicket as only 60 overs of play was possible due to the foggy weather.