RAJKOT (India): Arpit Vasavada and Cheteshwar Pujara batted for273 minutes to put Saurashtra in driver’s seat against Bengal on the second day of Ranji Trophy final here on Tuesday.
Saurashtra finished on 384/8 with Chirag Jani and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja at the crease.
But Pujara, Vasavada and Prerak Mankad were dismissed in quick succession to halt the momentum Saurashtra gained.
Mukesh Kumar did well to fight back with two late wickets but the away side will want to wrap up the Saurashtra batting quickly before giving itself a chance with the bat on Wednesday.
Vasavada scored 106 before being dismissed by Shahbaz Ahmed while Pujara’s gritty 66 runs off 237 balls frustated Bengal bowlers. The India batsman overcame his illness to lead the home team.
In fact, Bengal bowlers were to toil by Saurashtra batters. The 100-run partnership between Vasavada and Pujara almost deflated Ishan Porel and company. The first session belonged to the defending champions as they hit 72 runs in the first session with Pujara and Vasavda on the crease. Saurashtra were 278/5 at lunch.
Umpire Ananthapadhmanabhan officiates from both ends !
In a bizarre incident, umpire C Shamsuddin was ruled out of the ongoing Ranji Trophy final because of swelling in his lower abdomen. He was injured when he was hit on the abdomen from a ball thrown by a Bengal fielder on Monday.
Following this, KN Ananthapadhmanabhan, the other on-field umpire, officiated from both ends for one full session.
Local umpire Piyush Kakkar stood at square leg.
As per the BCCI regulations, a neutral umpire should be present from both ends and since, Kakkar was from Rajkot he was not allowed officiate from the main end.
“He didn’t look comfortable taking the field because of pain. We took him to the hospital and he underwent a medical examination. He was advised a week’s rest,” ESPN Cricinfo quoted a Saurashtra Cricket Association official as saying.
