Kolkata: It was another day of agonising wait for Bengal as bad light continued to torment them on the penultimate day of their Elite Group ‘B’ Ranji Trophy match against Chhattisgarh at the Eden Gardens here on Sunday.
Bengal skipper Manoj Tiwary declared their first innings at the overnight score of 381 for eight, hoping the bowlers will make a difference under overcast conditions. The bowlers did strike, but after six long hours, as the match could only be resumed at around 3.30pm in the final session of play after several rounds of inspection by the match officials. After 73 overs on Day I and 55 overs on Day II, only nine overs of play were possible on Sunday. However, it was Bengal all the way in that as they reduced Chhattisgarh to 27 for two at stumps on Day III.
It was Bengal’s both overnight unbeaten batters — Suraj Jaiswal and Karan Lal — who did the damage by removing the two Chhattisgarh openers, K Eknath and Rishabh Tiwari.
Coming in as the second change bowler, pacer Jaiswal struck in his very first over by having wicketkeeper-batter Eknath edging one to Tiwary at the first slip. Off-spinner Lal struck in the very next over when he trapped Tiwari in front. Batters Jivesh Butte and Ashutosh Singh survived some anxious moments under fading lights before the umpires halted the play again and then eventually called stumps for the day much to the disappointment of the Bengal camp.
With poor weather conditions predicted on the last day too, Bengal will only pray to get some decent playing time to bowl out the opposition and gain a first-innings lead and three points at least. In case the Chhattisgarh batters manage to hang on the entire day, both the sides will end up with one point only, which will hurt Bengal’s progression chances more.
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