Ranji Trophy: Shahbaz Ahmed's double strike helps Bengal finish on top vs Delhi
After putting 318 in their first essay, Bengal's Mukesh Kumar, Nilkantha Das, and Shahbaz Ahmed picked up couple of wickets each, as the hosts were trailing by 126 runs with just four wickets in hand.
In Short
- Bengal got a slight edge over Delhi in their round 7 Ranji Trophy tie
- Delhi were trailing by 126 runs with just four wickets in hand at the end of Day 2
- Bengal's Mukesh Kumar, Nilkantha Das, and Shahbaz Ahmed picked 2 wickets each
An all-round bowling show saw Bengal getting a slight edge over Delhi in their round 7 Ranji Trophy tie at the iconic Eden Gardens as the visitors were reduced to 192/6 when the second day ended here.
After putting 318 in their first essay, Bengal's Mukesh Kumar, Nilkantha Das, and Shahbaz Ahmed picked up a couple of wickets each, as the hosts were trailing by 126 runs with just four wickets in hand.
In Ongole, hosts Andhra were ahead of Kerala by a small 93-run margin as they were bowled out for 255 runs in reply to the former's 162. Opener Prasanth Kumar was the top-scorer for Andhra with 79 runs while Jalaj Saxena and Basil Thampi picked up three wickets apiece for Kerala.
In a match delayed due to a wet outfield in Delhi, Railways managed to add 62 runs to their overnight score of 98 runs, losing a wicket against Karnataka.
Aditya Thakare's (5/43) fifer helped Vidarbha bundled out Gujarat for 211 in their first innings. Vidarbha too, kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and closed the day at 89/4, taking a small 20-run lead based on their 142 in the first innings.
In another low-scoring tie, Hyderabad, who had just managed 171 in their first innings, were 101/6 at stumps at the end of the day against Rajasthan, who despite a great start, were wrapped up for a mere 135 runs.
Mumbai were static at their overnight score of 372/5 against Himachal Pradesh as no play was possible in Dharamsala due to rain.
After bundling out Baroda for paltry scores of 154 and 187 in the first and second essays respectively, Saurashtra were 23/2 and are now 177 away from a win as they put up 142 in their first innings.
Tripura had a dismal first innings but they showed some grit as they were 166/3 in their second innings against Maharashtra and now trail by just 79 runs in Agartala. In reply to Tripura's 121, Maharashtra too, lost wickets in a similar fashion and were eventually bowled out for 208 runs in their first essay.
Replying to hosts Odisha's 436, Assam were 59/3 in Cuttack with Rishav Das and Riyan Parag batting on 24 and 14 runs respectively.
However, no play was possible in Dehradun as Haryana were 50/5 against Uttarakhand, who had managed just 109 in their first innings.
Rahul Shukla starred for Jharkhand bagging seven wickets as his side wrapped up the Services for 279 in their first innings. Jharkhand however, failed to take any advantage as none of their batsmen delivered and ended the second day at 145/9 in Delhi.
Continous rain forced play to be called-off in Jammu as hosts Jammu and Kashmir remained stranded at their overnight score of 270/4 against Chhattisgarh.
Brief Scores
Bengal 1st innings: 318 all out in 98.4 overs (Anustup Majumdar 99, Shreevats Goswami 59, Shahbaz Ahmed 46, Koushik Ghosh 46; Simarjeet Singh 4/77, Vikas Mishra 3/78).
Delhi 1st innings: 192 for six in 65.3 overs (Dhruv Shorey 65, Hiten Dalal 40; S Ahmed 2/11, N Das 2/36).