Pink-ball match: Majumdar, Saha rescue Mohun Bagan

Anustup Majumdar scored a brilliant 83 and Sanjib Sanyal a timely 60 to guide Mohun Bagan Athletic Club (MBAC) to post 286 all out at the end of the opening day's play in the Super League final against Bhawanipore Club at the Eden Gardens.

Sourav Ganguly (second from left) in discussion with officials before the start of the CAB Super League final.

As pink ball cricket made its debut in the country, Anustup Majumdar scored a brilliant 83 and Sanjib Sanyal a timely 60 to guide Mohun Bagan Athletic Club (MBAC) to post 286 all out at the end of the opening day's play in the Super League final against Bhawanipore Club at the Eden Gardens here on Saturday.

In front of a few hundred keen followers of the game, MBAC, inserted in, benefited from Majumdar's valuable partnerships with Wriddhiman Saha (33) and Sanyal to recover from 52 for four and stay on course to put up a respectable total.

Bhawanipore's new ball bowlers Ravikant Singh and Geet Puri maintained good line and length and extracted prodigious movement to mount pressure and pick up wickets. Left-armer Puri provided the breakthrough in the fourth over as a beauty of a delivery took Jayojit Basu's outside edge and rested in wicket-keeper Santosh Sabanayakan's gloves prior to a 41-minute rain-induced break.

Later, Puri had Arindam Ghosh, who tried to build a partnership with the hardworking Vivek, caught behind.

Ravikant, who returned four wickets, claimed captain Subhomoy Das and Vivek in consecutive overs of his second spell. Das was trapped in front, while Vivek (27) was bowled though the gate. In the testing twilight period, Saha and Majumdar joined hands to stitch together valuable 81 runs for the fifth wicket. Puri's leg injury also made things easier for the MBCA pair.

A watchful Saha used his experience to stand outside the crease to beat the swing. After getting used to the conditions, he worked the ball around and picked up four boundaries on either side of the wicket.

Majumdar switched to an aggressive mode a bit quicker and executed some fine hits to the fence. The partnership ended when Saha was caught at long-on in his attempt to hit slow bowler Writtick Chatterjee out of the park.

Even as the ball remained intact till it was changed after the 75th, Majumdar, who clubbed nine fours, built a 55-run stand with Sanjib Sanyal for the seventh wicket before being run out. Mohammad Shami's quick-fire knock boosted MBAC further.

The scores: MBCA 286 in 87.5 overs (Anustup Majumdar 83, Sanjib Sanyal 60, Mohd. Shami 36, Wriddhiman Saha 33, Vivek Singh 27, Ravikant Singh four for 46, Geet Puri two for 19, Writtick Chatterjee two for 73).