After Vasavada-Pujara take Saurashtra to 425, Bengal reeling at 134/3

Rajkot, March 11

Saurashtra maintained their grip over the Ranji Trophy final on Day 3 despite a fighting stand between Bengal veteran Manoj Tiwary and Sudip Chatterjee on a deteriorating pitch here today.

Chatterjee (47 not out off 145) and Tiwary (35 off 116) took a leaf out of Cheteshwar Pujara’s book to share a gritty 89-run partnership off 226 balls after Bengal were in a spot of bother at 35/2 at lunch.

Batting is only going to get tougher on this surface with the ball keeping low right from Day 1, making it a steep challenge for Bengal to get past Saurashtra’s first innings total of 425. Bengal reached 134/3 in 65 overs at close of play, trailing Saurashtra by 291 runs, with Chatterjee and Wriddhiman Saha (4 off 43) in the middle. Saurashtra, who resumed the day at 384/8, went on to bat for one hour and 10 minutes in the morning session to add 41 valuable runs with the last-wicket pair of Jaydev Unadkat and Dharemendrasinh Jadeja producing 38 runs.

“It was an important toss. First couple of days the wicket still played better now it is misbehaving. There is rapid wear and tear but we will fight it till the end,” Bengal coach Arun Lal said.

Saurashtra coach Karsan Ghavri said, “We are doing okay at the moment. But cricket is a funny game, things can change quickly. It is not a bad wicket. Our batsmen showed it. The odd ball is keeping low.”

Brief scores: Saurashtra: 425 all out in 171.5 overs (A Vasavada 106, C Pujara 66; Akash Deep 4/98); Bengal: 134/3 in 65 overs (S Chatterjee 47*, M Tiwary 35; P Mankad 1/7). — PTI

Lal’s pitch comment ill-timed, says curator

Arun Lal’s “very poor pitch” comment on the opening day drew a sharp rebuttal from Saurashtra Cricket Association today when its curator Mahendra Rajdev said the Bengal coach erred in his judgement by jumping the gun in the final. Saurashtra, who reached 206/5 on Day 1, went on to post 425 on Day 3. The pitch is certainly a tricky one with the ball keeping low frequently but Cheteshwar Pujara and Arpit Vasavada showed remarkable application with a five-hour stand on Day 2. “The pitch may not have had extra bounce which Bengal bowlers were looking for, but that does not make the wicket poor,” said Rajdev in a SCA statement. “It is a rather hasty and poor judgment by the Bengal coach and it may not be beneficial for their own players when the coach makes a statement like this. It is the same pitch for both the teams, which was prepared under the neutral curator from the BCCI,” he added. Lal, in fact, had maintained his stance on the pitch after Day 2, saying it was a dead pitch which can’t be good for cricket. pti