RAJKOT: Even as Saurashtra seemed to have strengthened their position against Bengal in the Ranji Trophy final on Wednesday, Bengal coach Arun Lal felt that his side are still in the race.
At the end of third day’s play, Bengal were struggling at 134 for 3 with Sudip Chatterjee unbeaten on 47.
“What we need is a century partnership. I think that will work well for us. But Ranji final shouldn’t have been held on this type of wicket,” said Lal.
Earlier, resuming at 384 for 8, the home team added 41 runs to their overnight score to finish their innings at 425.
They frustrated Bengal with a gritty 38-run stand for the last wicket.
Akash Deep cleaned up Chirag Jani with his third ball of the day to claim a well-deserved four-for, only his second in first-class cricket.
“We needed a good start. That’s why the pressure fell on the lower-order batsmen. Once again the openers failed. This was disappointing,” added Lal.
There wasn’t too much assistance for the new ball pair of Jaydev Unadkat and Chetan Sakariya who explored various angles to dislodge a sedate-looking opening partnership of Sudip Kumar Gharami and Abhimanyu Easwaran.
Brief scores: Bengal 134/3 (Sudip Chatterjee 47*; Prerak Mankad 1-16) trail Saurashtra 425 (Arpit Vasavada 106, Cheteshwar Pujara 66; Akash Deep 4-98) by 291 runs
And with just over five minutes to go before lunch, Saurashtra’s ever-reliable Dharmendrasinh Jadeja removed the former in his third over and soon after, Prerak Mankad accounted for the wicket of Easwaran, who’s yet to notch up a ton in this Ranji season.
“Manoj (Tiwari) dismissal was crucial for us. If we throw wickets like this, we won’t be able to achieve our target,” said Bengal coach.
The home team then tried and tested various bowling combinations post-lunch, only to end up on the bitter side of luck.
Both Tiwary and Sudip displayed great willingness to play the ball close to the body and helped the visitors recover after a disastrous end to the first session.
