It’s Saurashtra’s to lose as WB hit again

Kolkata, February 18

Saurashtra look poised to lift their second Ranji Trophy after skipper Jaydev Unadkat and Chetan Sakariya grabbed two wickets each to leave hosts West Bengal struggling at 169/4 in their second innings on Day 3 of the final at the Eden Gardens today.

West Bengal skipper Manoj Tiwary remained unbeaten on 57, with the hosts still 61 runs short of Saurashtra’s first-innings total of 404. And with both Saurashtra left-arm pace bowlers breathing fire, Unadkat’s side could well wrap up the game tomorrow.

West Bengal’s pace-heavy attack looked ineffective in the morning as Saurashtra added 87 runs to their overnight score of 317/5. Though overnight batters Arpit Vasavada (81) and Chirag Jani (60) perished quickly, tailenders Prerak Mankad (33) and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (29) held the fort for them. To add to West Bengal’s woes, they gave away 35 extras.

In their second essay, West Bengal had a poor start as the pace duo of Sakariya (2/50) and Unadkat (2/47) rattled the top-order to reduce them to 47/3 in the post-lunch session.

Still trailing by 183 runs, an innings defeat loomed large when the veteran duo of Anustup Majumdar (61) and Tiwary came together and gave the 1,000-odd fans some hope with their 99-run partnership.

At stumps, Shahbaz Ahmed (13 batting) and Tiwary were at the crease.

West Bengal can only hope for a magical turnaround in their quest for a maiden Ranji Trophy title in 32 years, and the onus is on Tiwary and Ahmed to pull it off.

Brief scores: West Bengal: 174 and 169/4 in 52.5 overs (Majumdar 61, Tiwary 57*) vs Saurashtra: 404 in 110 overs (Vasavada 81, Jani 60; Mukesh 4/111, Akash Deep 3/111).