Bengal bowlers’ persistence checked Odisha’s progress on the second day of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal at the DRIEMS ground here on Friday.
Bengal, resuming at 308 for six, scored 332 in its first innings.
Good stand
Odisha benefited from a commendable 125-run partnership between Shantanu Mishra (62, 214b, 7x4) and Debasish Samantray (68, 145b, 10x4, 1x6) before Bengal picked up three wickets in the last hour to reduce the host to 151 for four.
The Odisha seamers restricted Bengal — Suryakant Pradhan castled Shahbaz Ahmed on his overnight 82. Basant Mohanty took three wickets, including that of Anustup Majumder (157), to claim four wickets in his 100th match.
After losing Anurag Sarangi to Nilkantha Das in the sixth over, Shantanu and Debasish showed good temperament and applied themselves for nearly five hours.
The left-right combination, following a period of circumspection, unleashed some classy shots on both sides.
Shantanu kept blocking, while Debasish, Odisha’s highest run-getter, mixed his solid defence with some spectacular shots.
The southpaw drove the pacers fluently and hoisted off-spinner Arnab Nandi for a six.
Nilkantha strikes
They reached their half-centuries in the final session before the disciplined Nilkantha broke the century stand. Debasish lost patience and his wicket.
Bengal roared back when Shahbaz bowled Shantanu and Ishan Porel had Govinda Poddar caught at slip off a rising delivery.
The scores:
Bengal — 1st innings: Koushik Ghosh c Poddar b Basant 9, Abhimanyu Easwaran c Dhuper b Suryakant 7, Abhishek Raman lbw b Suryakant 1, Arnab Nandi c Shantanu b Chohan 24, Manoj Tiwary lbw b Debabrata 4, Anustup Majumder c Dhuper b Basant 157, Shreevats Goswami c Dhuper b Chohan 34, Shahbaz Ahmed b Suryakant 82, Mukesh Kumar c Chohan b Basant 1, Ishan Porel c Dhuper b Basant 0, Nilkantha Das (not out) 2; Extras (lb-7, nb-2, w-2): 11. Total (in 96.5 overs): 332.
Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-17, 3-25, 4-46, 5-46, 6-141, 7-312, 8-319, 9-319.
Odisha bowling: Basant 25.5-7-53-4, Suryakant 27-5-115-3, Chohan 15-3-52-2, Debabrata 14-0-54-1, Poddar 10-0-36-0, Shantanu 5-0-15-0.
Odisha — 1st innings: Shantanu Mishra b Shahbaz 62, Anurag Sarangi c Goswami b Nilkantha 5, Debasish Samantray c Goswami b Nilkantha 68, Govinda Poddar c Majumder b Porel 11, Debabrata Pradhan (batting) 0; Extras (b-4, lb-1): 5. Total (for 4 wkts. in 67.1 overs): 151.
Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-135, 3-145, 4-151.
Bengal bowling: Porel 17.1-7-41-1, Nilkantha 15-8-20-2, Mukesh 14-5-25-0, Shahbaz 16-5-43-1, Nandi 5-0-17-0.
