Bengal vs Saurashtra HIGHLIGHTS, Ranji Trophy Final Day 2: SAU 317/5; Vasavada, Jani extend SAU lead to 143

• Saurashtra - 317/5 in 87 overs vs Bengal 174 all out; Saurashtra leads by 143 runs.

Arpit Vasavada (81*) and Chirag Jani (57*) help Saurashtra dominate another day’s play at the Eden Gardens. Bengal was wayward with the ball throughout the three sessions and has probably conceded the game to the visitor. Saurashtra leads by 143 runs.

The stand between Jani and Vasavada crosses 100 as Saurashtra continues to pile up runs against the hosts. The lead extends to 138

Chirag Jani brings up his fifty and leads Saurashtra past 300 alongside Arpit Vasavada who is batting on 72.

Chirag Jani and Arpit Vasavada continue to frustrate the Bengal bowlers by constantly picking the gaps for ones and twos.

Jani hammers Mukesh Kumar for three fours in the first over after the break. Shahbaz Ahmed drops Jani’s catch at the fine-leg region in the last delivery. Meanwhile, Saurashtra crosses the 250-run mark.

The lighting has gotten better to play and Jani along with Vasavada walks out to face Mukesh Kumar.

The start of the third session has been delayed due to bad light in overcast conditions.

Vasavada and Chirag Jani lead Saurashtra to Tea. Just the solitary wicket for Bengal in the session as the visitor extends the lead to 64.

Arpti Vasavada smears a length ball through extra cover for another FOUR and brings up his half-century. He continues his scintillating touch from the semifinal for Saurashtra.

The stand between Jackson and Vasavada nears 100 as Saurashtra goes past 200 in the 58th over. Porel to Jackson, OUT! Reckless shot by the set Jackson to throw his wicket after scoring a well-fought 59. Bengal gets a much-needed breakthrough as half of Saurashtra batters are back in the hut. In comes Chirag Jani at number seven.

Jackson c (sub) Pramanik b Ishan Porel 59(105)

Jackson shifts his weight to the backfoot to slam Shahbaz for a four and with this Saurashtra takes the crucial first-innings lead against Bengal on the second day.

A valiant effort from Jackson to complete his half-century. He is batting on 51 as Saurashtra is just one run behind Bengal’s first-innings score.

Jackson nears his fifty as Saurashtra goes past 150 runs. The lead narrows down for Bengal as it looks desperate for wickets.

Lunch, day 2: Saurashtra 148/4 in 46 overs, Sheldon Jackson (29) and Arpit Vasavada (15) batted with discipline to stand for an unbeaten 39 run stand. Mukesh 2/38 led Bengal bowlers, who bowled better to give away 67 for two wickets in 29 overs.,

Y.B. Sarangi

Good partnership by the duo of Jackson and Vasavada to lead Saurashtra near Bengal’s first innings total. The morning session was equally poised with two early wickets from Mukesh Kumar and Ishan Porel but this crucial stand has put the visitors in a commanding position. Bengal leads by 26 runs at lunch.

The batting pillars of Saurashtra - Arpit Vasavada and Sheldon Jackson carefully negotiates the last few overs without taking any risks. Both of them are playing positive cricket to maintain the flow of runs as the visitor is nearing the 150-run mark. Bengal leads with 43 runs at the moment.

Sheldon Jackson and Arpit Vasavada remain solid in defence and Saurashtra continues to slowly trudge towards the first-innings lead.

Night watchman Chetan Sakariya got several blows but stood grittily to see off the morning hour. He was bowled in Ishan Porel’s first over of the day.

Change in bowling, Ishan Porel replaces Akash Deep. Porel to Sakariya, OUT! Bowled! Porel strikes in his first over today. He knocks Sakariya to end his 45-ball resistance and gives Bengal fourth wicket. Sakariya does his job as a night watchman and in comes the man in form, Arpit Vasavad at number six. Vasavada gets off the mark with a terrific cover drive.

Chetan Sakariya b Ishan Porel 8(45)

Akash Deep continues to nag Sheldon with the incoming delivery. Sheldon prods forward but ensures that he plays the moving ball late below his eyes.

Mukesh to Desai, OUT! Lapse in concentration from Desai after scoring his half-century as Mukesh traps him in front of wickets for lbw. The ball drifts in to hit the pads and it looks plumb out. Sheldon Jackson walks in at number five for Saurashtra. A glimmer of hope for Bengal to take a few quick wickets.

Harvik Desai lbw b Mukesh Kumar 50(79)

Saurashtra goes past the 100-run mark as the visitors are just 75 runs away from taking the first-innings lead. Harvik Desai completes his blazing fifty. A 76-ball 50 for Desai with eight fours and one six.

Akash Deep continues from the other end. Desai hits him for the first boundary of the day. Another no-ball from Akash Deep in his second over. Seven comes from this over.

Mukesh Kumar is bowling with a good rhythm as he is able to pitch the ball with a straight seam position, testing the batters with late movements. Only a single off the over.

Manoj Tiwary hands the ball to Akash Deep from the other end. He starts with a no-ball and the saga continues for him. He has struggled with his run-up this season and will want to rectify this very quickly. A decent comeback from the bowler to deliver six tight balls against Sakariya.

Mukesh Kumar starts with a gentle outswinger which Desai leaves confidently. Mukesh holds a good length area and targets the fourth stump to swing the following ball. A couple of singles follows as the first over ends.

Overnight batters, Harvik Desai and Chetan Sakariya walk out to bat in front of Mukesh Kumar, who will start the proceedings for Bengal on day 2.

• Dharmendrasinh Jadeja needs only one wicket to cross the 300-wicket mark in first-class cricket.

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Shahbaz Ahmed and Abishek Porel’s commendable rescue act, in the form of brilliant half-centuries resulting in a seventh-wicket century-run partnership, saved Bengal the blushes following a disastrous start on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy final against Saurashtra at the Eden Gardens on Thursday.

Saurashtra captain Jaydev Unadkat elected to bowl and executed his game plan perfectly to make life difficult for the home batters on a greenish surface in the morning.

Unadkat and company bundled Bengal out for 174 in the first innings before Saurashtra ended the day at 81 for the loss of two wickets. Left-handed pacers Unadkat and Chetan Sakariya lived up to the expectation and operated in tandem to wreak havoc.

They hit the right line and length and extracted impressive bounce and movement to remove five batters in a little over an hour.

Unadkat drew first blood in the opening over as Abhimanyu Easwaran was caught at forward short-leg for a duck.

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Sakariya landed a double blow in the second over. Thirty-two-year-old debutant Sumanta Gupta was caught at second slip and Sudip Gharami was bowled shouldering arms.

Skipper Manoj Tiwary stretched out against Unadkat to be held at gully, and Anustup Majumdar edged Chirag Jani behind even after settling down.

Akash Ghatak became Sakariya’s third victim as Bengal tottered at 65 for six.

The experienced Shahbaz (69, 112b, 11x4) and the young Abishek (50, 98b, 8x4) batted with determination, playing each delivery on merit, to revive the innings.

With the pitch easing out, the duo gathered runs at a faster pace in the middle session – during which they achieved their fifties and a superb 101-run stand.

The two played some confident shots to the ropes. While Shahbaz primarily relied on cuts and flicks, Abishek chose drives and cuts.

They also rotated the strike amidst encouraging support from three thousand partisan spectators.

The defiant stand ended with spinner Dharmendra Jadeja having Shahbaz, who had a reprieve as a catch off Prerak Mankad was disallowed prior to lunch, caught at short-leg at the stroke of tea.

Batting on 42, Abhishek used DRS to survive an lbw decision and get his second consecutive half-century. He departed soon, playing Jani to first slip.

Dharmendra and Unadkat, who secured three wickets to claim 300 Ranji wickets, closed the Bengal innings early in the final session.

Saurashtra had a flying start as Harvik Desai hammered the wayward Bengal pacers. Akash Deep and Mukesh Kumar got a wicket a piece to limit the damage.

- Y. B. Sarangi

The scores:

Bengal – 1st innings: Sumanta Gupta c Jackson b Sakariya 1, Abhimanyu Easwaran c Gohil b Unadkat 0, Sudip Gharami b Sakariya 0, Anustup Majumdar c Desai b Jani 16, Manoj Tiwary c Vishvaraj b Unadkat 7, Akash Ghatak c Unadkat b Sakariya 17, Shahbaz Ahmed c Vishvaraj b Dharmendra 69, Abishek Porel c Mankad b Jani 50, Akash Deep c Unadkat b Dharmendra 4, Mukesh Kumar c&b Unadkat 1, Ishan Porel (not out) 0, Extras (lb-7, nb-2) 9, Total (in 54.1 overs) 174

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-1, 3-2, 4-17, 5-34, 6-65, 7-166, 8-172, 9-174

Saurashtra bowling: Unadkat 13.1-3-44-3, Sakariya 13-4-33-3, Jani 11-2-33-2, Mankad 11-4-38-0, Dharmendra 6-1-19-2

Saurashtra – 1st innings: Harvik Desai (batting) 38, Jay Gohil b Akash Deep 6, Vishvaraj Jadeja c Abishek b Mukesh 25, Chetan Sakariya (batting) 2, Extras (b-5, lb-1, nb-4) 10, Total (for two wickets in 17 overs) 81

Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-73; Bengal bowling: Mukesh 6-1-23-1, Akash Deep 8-1-28-1, Ghatak 1-0-10-0, Ishan 1-0-12-0, Shahbaz 1-0-2-0.