Ranji Trophy 2019-20 | ODI v BEN - Bengal build on precious first innings lead

Ranji Trophy 2019-20 | ODI v BEN - Bengal build on precious first innings lead

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Building on a precious 82-run first-innings lead against Odisha in the second quarter-final at the DRIEMS Ground in Cuttack, Bengal reached 79 for two at stumps on day three. Earlier, three-fers from Ishan Porel, Nilkantha Das, and Mukesh Kumar helped Bengal restrict Odisha to just 250.

The three late strikes in the final hour of play on day two did not seem to have much effect on derailing Odisha’s pursuit of Bengal’s 332 when Debabrata Pradhan and skipper Subhranshu Senapati were at the crease. The duo added 40 runs comfortably before Das came back to put a hold on the flow. Once Pradhan fell, it was only a matter of time before the hosts succumbed as Senapati struggled to find anyone to support his valiant 46. 

In reply, Koushik Ghosh and skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran gave the visitors a bright start — erasing the horrors of the first innings. Their patient 60-run stand was broken by Govinda Poddar before Anurag Sarangi cleaned up Ghosh as well to reduce the visitors to 76 for two. At stumps, Bengal still had Manoj Tiwary, their most experienced campaigner, at the crease, with a lead of 161 runs to their name.

Brief scores: Bengal 332 all-out in 96.5 overs (Anustup Majumdar 157; Basant Mohanty 4-53) & 79/2 in 45 overs (Koushik Ghosh 41; Anurag Sarangi 1-3) lead Odisha 250 all-out (Debasish Samantray 68; Nilkantha Das 3-31) by 161 runs.

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