Andhra sets plate for Bengal

Dec 28:  Bengal’s speedster Ranadeb Bose seven wicket haul in the second essay went in vain as Andhra players astounding multitalented performance denied Bengal, finalists in the previous two seasons, a much-needed win to stay in the elite division.

Andhra defeated Bengal by a margin of 101 runs after getting them out twice in the span of three days in the final Group ‘B’ super league cricket match of the Ranji Trophy played at the Eden Gardens here on Thursday.

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Andhra earned five points taking their tally to 17 from six games and stands a good chance to make it into the semis but will have to wait for the Uttar Pradesh-Hyderabad match to confirm their place in the semi-final.

On the other hand Bengal lost its third consecutive match, total four, at home and faced relegation to the Plate division. Bengal faced a similar situation in 2004-05, but they came out of trouble after beating Madhya Pradesh on that occasion.

Andhra resumed their innings at 147 for six and could only add 43 runs before getting out at 190. Bose once again came to the rescue of Bengal team as he added three more to his four wickets to end with seven for 74, his 18th five-wicket and fifth 10-wicket haul (10 for 121) in a first class match.

Bengal needed only 214 runs to avoid relegation but their batsmen once again disappointed them by putting up a miserable show. Bengal was reduced to 35 for three at lunch.

The trusted Manoj Tiwary (35) was going good but chose the wrong ball for a pull shot and ending up by dragging it onto his stumps off Y. Gnaneswara Rao.

It is the application that lacked by Bengal batsmen since the ball was coming nicely to the bat and what all Bengal needed was someone to stay in the middle and build one big partnership.

Skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla (39) provided some resistance to the team but couldn’t be able to sail through the as P. Vijay Kumar completed his second five-wicket haul of the match and end with 10 for 87, his best thus far, with his accurate line and length. Gnaneswara Rao also got his first five-wicket haul and finished with the magical figures of five for 16.

SCOREBOARD

Andhra 1st innings: 121

Bengal 1st innings: 98

Andhra 2nd innings: H. Watekar c Saha b Mukherjee 67, L.N.P. Reddy c Saha b Paul 12, D. Kalyan Krishna lbw b Bose 12, Y.G. Rao c Dinda b Bose 6, A.S.K. Varma c Saha b Bose 6, B. Sumanth lbw b Bose 1, M.S.K. Prasad c Saha b Bose 54, A.G. Pradeep c Mondal b Paul 22, G.S. Rao c Saha b Bose 2, I. Raju c Majumdar b Bose 0, P. Vijay Kumar (not out) 6.

Extras (lb-1, w-1): 2

Total (in 64.1 overs): 190

Fall of wickets: 1-47, 2-88, 3-98, 4-104, 5-104, 6-109, 7-154, 8-159, 9-159, 10-190

Bengal bowling: Bose 26.1-6-74-7, Paul 20-7-41-2, Dinda 9-2-38-0, Chowdhury 3-1-19-0, Mukherjee 6-2-17-1.

Bengal 2nd innings: A. Majumdar c Prasad b Vijay Kumar 8, A. Das c G.S. Rao b Vijay Kumar 9, W. Saha c Watekar b Vijay Kumar 0, M. Tiwary b Y.G. Rao 35, K.H. Mondal lbw b Vijay Kumar 0, L.R. Shukla lbw b Vijay Kumar 39, R. Chowdhury c Prasad b Y.G. Rao 1, P. Mukherjee lbw b Y.G. Rao 0, A. Dinda c Watekar b Y.G. Rao 0, R. Bose lbw b Y.G. Rao 8, S.S. Paul (not out) 6.

Extras (lb-5, nb-1): 6

Total (in 29.5 overs): 112

Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-9, 3-27, 4-35, 5-65, 6-70, 7-70, 8-88, 9-98, 10-112



Andhra bowling: Kalyan 6-1-18-0, Vijay Kumar 13-3-56-5, Raju 4-0-15-0, Sankara Rao 1-0-2-0, Gnaneshwar Rao 5.5-3-16-5.