Ranji Trophy Semi-final: Bengal in Driver’s Seat After Posting 438 in First Innings

Young wicketkeeper Abishek Porel hit a half-century before Bengal bowlers struck twice towards the end of Day 2 to find themselves in a commanding position against defending champions Madhya Pradesh in their Ranji Trophy semifinal here on Thursday.

Resuming the day at 307 for 4, Bengal added 131 runs from 54.3 overs on the second day to be all out for 438, thanks mainly to the 78-run sixth-wicket stand between the 20-year-old Porel (51) and captain Manoj Tiwary (42). In reply, MP ended the day at 56 for 2 in their first innings, still trailing by 382 runs.

Tiwary added 37 runs to his overnight 5 as he consumed 129 balls in total from which he hit five boundaries to take Bengal past the 400-run mark.

But once Tiwary was out for the team total of 401, wickets fell in a heap.

Porel was the next Bengal batter to be dismissed, nine overs later, as he was run out. His 102-ball knock had eight fours.

The last four wickets managed 37 runs for Bengal.

For MP, Kumar Kartikeya was the most successful bowler on the day, grabbing three wickets, including that of Tiwary, for 95 runs.

MP struggled in reply with the opening pair of Yash Dubey (12) and wicketkeeper Himanshu Mantri (23) sharing just 27 runs.

Akash Deep (1/10) removed Dubey in the 18th over and Mantri feel to Ishan Porel (1/4) seven overs later. Saransh Jain and Anubhav Agarwal were batting on 17 and 4 respectively at stumps.

On the first day on Wednesday, Anustup Majumdar (120) and young Sudip Gharami (112) had slammed a century each to set up Bengal’s big first innings total.

Brief Scores: Bengal 1st Innings: 438 in 141.3 overs (Anustup Majumdar 120, Sudip Gharami 112, Abishek Porel 51, Manoj Tiwary 42; Kumar Kartikeya 3/95).

Madhya Pradesh 1st Innings: 56 for 2 in 28 overs.

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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)