All-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed’s century and Mohammed Shami’s two wickets helped Bengal consolidate their position on the third day of their Ranji Trophy Group C match against Assam on Tuesday, moving closer to their fourth consecutive win. Resuming from yesterday’s 267 for four, Bengal posted 442. Shahbaz smashed his second first-class century, scoring 101 off 122 balls with 11 fours and two sixes, besides sharing a 129-run stand for the fifth wicket with Sumant Gupta (97).
Mohammed Shami again took wicket
Assam had scored 200 runs in the first innings, giving Bengal a lead of 242 runs. The visiting team has scored 98 runs for three wickets in its second innings. Assam is still trailing by 144 runs with seven wickets remaining. Bengal is eyeing to win the second consecutive match with bonus points. Assam had a bad start in the second innings as well, with both openers Rishav Das and Pradyun Saikia returning to the pavilion without opening their account. Swarupam Purkayastha, who came to bat at number three, could score only four runs.
Shami had Das caught behind off the second ball of the innings and then Purkayastha in his next over. Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal trapped Saikia LBW. After losing three wickets for eight runs, Danish Das (63 not out) and captain Sumit Ghadigaonkar (30 not out) kept the team at bay until the end of the day’s play. The duo had shared an unbroken 90-run partnership for the fourth wicket. In Valsad, left-arm spinner Raj Chaudhary took five wickets for 35 runs in the second innings, helping Railways beat Tripura by an innings and 117 runs.
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Tripura could score only 136 runs in the first innings, in reply to which Railways declared their innings at 446 for 9 with centuries from Mohammad Saif (158) and Bhargav Merai (160). Tripura could only score 193 runs in the second innings and lost by an innings margin. Chaudhary took nine wickets for 65 runs in the match. Chasing Gujarat’s target of 344 runs in Dehradun, Uttarakhand scored 43 runs without losing any wicket. At the end of the day’s play, Aarav Mahajan was playing at 27 while Bhupen Lalwani was playing at 16 runs.
Uttarakhand still needs 301 runs to win. Earlier, Gujarat declared their second innings at 291 for 5. Arya Desai (80), Jayamati Patel (60) and Urvil Patel (58) scored half centuries for Gujarat. The Army team is on the verge of victory against Haryana in Rohtak. Chasing the target of 378 runs set by the Army, Haryana has lost six wickets for 136 runs. Earlier, the Army declared their second innings at 283 for 7. Rajat Paliwal scored 61 while Vineet Dhankhar scored an unbeaten 57 runs.