Ranji Trophy: Bengal batters falter, bowled out for 88

KOLKATA: Whatever good work the Bengal bowlers did to bowl out Baroda for 181 only on Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match went down the drains as the Bengal batters did not even last a single session on Day 1 morning to be bowled out for 88 at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Friday.
Starting the day at 24 for one, Bengal lost nine wickets for 64 runs in 21.3 overs to be all out before the lunch break, handing Baroda a healthy 93-run lead.They now stare at an outright defeat as Baroda reached 144 for five at stumps to enjoy a 237-run lead.
Four batters, including experienced Manoj Tiwary and Anushtup Majumder, returned without scoring. Youngsters Sudip Kumar Gharami and India U-19 World Cup winning team member Abhishek Porel scored the most for Bengal with each getting 21 runs. All-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed scored 20 runs. The Bengal tail once again failed to make any meaningful contribution with Mukesh Kumar and Akash Deep failing to score.
Baroda new ball bowlers Atit Sheth and Lukman Meriwala ran through the Bengal innings with the former claiming five for 44 and the latter picking three for 15.
Sheth broke the backbone of the Bengal innings by dismissing Majumder caught by Mitesh Patel and then bowled state minister Tiwary a ball later. Writtick Chatterjee, who got his maiden IPL purse earlier this week, could not stand up when required and was run out by Krunal Pandya, managing only nine runs.
Baroda skipper Kedar Devdhar led from the front in the second essay getting 41 opening the innings. Ishan Porel was once again on target claiming two for 50.