Bengal are on the right track to their third successive Ranji Trophy semifinal look after Shahbaz Ahmed produced one more glowing all-round present to place them within the driver’s seat on the third day of their quarterfinal match in opposition to Jharkhand right here on Thursday.
Batting at No. 6, left-hander Ahmed top-scored with a gritty 81 off 120 balls (9×4, 2×6) as Bengal posted 328 of their first innings to safe a wholesome first innings lead of 155 runs.
At stumps on Day 3, Jharkhand had been forward by simply seven runs, with their second innings in disarray at 162 for 7. A complete of 11 wickets tumbled on day three.
The decrease order Jharkhand batters at the moment are left battling to delay the inevitable with two extra days left within the recreation.
Ahmed, the left-arm spin bowling all-rounder, additionally made an impression with the ball, dismissing Anukul Roy (40) and Jharkhand skipper Virat Singh (29) of their second innings.
Opener Aryaman Sen waged a lone battle for Jharkhand with a combating half century (64 off 132 balls) however Ishan Porel brilliantly set him up with a bouncer and dismissed him on the fag-end of the day.
Kolkata: Jharkhand’s batter Virat Singh performs a shot throughout the third day of Ranji Trophy quarter-finals cricket match between Bengal and Jharkhand, at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023. (PTI Picture/Swapan Mahapatra)(PTI02_02_2023_000205A)
It was a complete batting failure for Jharkhand as solely three batters managed double digit figures with Aryaman stitching two fifty-plus stands with Anukul Roy after which with Singh.
The match might have been over on day three itself had it not been for Bengal’s sloppy catching as they dropped three sitters, together with two by skipper Tiwary, all off the bowling of Ahmed who completed the day with bowling figures of 12-2-38-2.
Shahbaz Nadeem was unbeaten on 4 off 13 deliveries, smashing Porel via cowl boundary that handed Jharkhand a small total lead. Giving him firm at stumps was Supriyo Chakraborty on 5 off 19 balls.
It additionally meant that Jharkhand averted an innings defeat however they had been left to struggle two extra days with Rahul Shukla and Ashish Kumar subsequent in line to bat.
Earlier, resuming the day on 238 for five, Bengal misplaced their keeper-batter Abishek Porel (33) with simply eight runs added to his in a single day whole.
The left-hander, who was wanting fluent, all of a sudden misplaced his focus and was caught behind after going for a unfastened shot.
The opposite in a single day batter Shahbaz, nonetheless, didn’t put a foot unsuitable and performed an attacking innings en path to his tenth fifty.
Bengal would have favored to swell their lead a bit extra however Akash Deep failed to provide his decrease order fireworks and was run-out after being concerned in a mix-up with Ahmed.
“Our bowlers fought nicely. However we have to keep on with our plans and get them out early and chase it down. Something is feasible in cricket, so we’ve to be on the high of our recreation tomorrow,” Bengal coach Laxmi Ratan Shukla mentioned.
A repeat of final season’s semifinal between Bengal and Madhya Pradesh might be on the playing cards if the latter beat Andhra in Indore.
Bengal have earlier reached semifinals thrice from 5 seasons. They reached the ultimate in 2019-20 the place they misplaced to Saurashtra. The 2020-21 Ranji season was deserted on account of COVID-19 pandemic.
Transient Scores: Jharkhand: 173 and 162 for 7 in 48 overs (Aryaman Sen 64, Anukul Roy 40; Akash Deep 2/25, Akash Ghatak 2/19, Shahbaz Ahmed 2/38), Bengal: 328 in 108 overs (Shahbaz Ahmed 81, Abhimanyu Easwaran 77, Sudip Gharami 68, Abishek Porel 33; Ashish Kumar 3/89, Rahul Shukla 2/65, Supriyo Chakraborty 2/87). Jharkhand lead by seven runs.