Night watchman Suraj Jaiswal’s superb maiden century put Bengal in a strong position against Punjab on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match at the Eden Gardens here on Friday.
Resuming at 119 for four, Bengal rode on Jaiswal’s hundred (111, 185b, 14×4, 4×6) to score 343 in its first innings and secure a sizable 152-run lead.
At stumps, Punjab was at 64 for three in its second innings.
In the morning, the Punjab seamers, including Gurnoor and Sahil, bowled well to ask questions regularly.
Bengal’s overnight pair of Sumanta Gupta (55, 69b, 7×4, 1×6) and Jaiswal, who took four wickets on day one, showed good intent to form a 43-run association. Sumanta got his first fifty before falling to a widish delivery off Gurnoor.
Jaiswal, who was dropped twice, showed character to hold one end. He joined hands with Abishek Porel (52, 53b, 9×4) for an important 72-run partnership, during which Bengal surpassed Punjab’s total in the 22nd over of the day.
Abishek lived up to his reputation, displaying his crispy drives, especially a few straight ones down the ground, in his quick half-century. He departed after edging Sahil Khan to gully.
In his final outing, Wriddhiman Saha was given a guard of honour by members of both sides. He could not open his account as wicketkeeper Anmol Malhotra took a diving catch off Gurnoor’s bowling.
Jaiswal, who was on 38 at lunch, mixed caution with aggression as he gathered runs at a faster pace in the middle session while leading the lower order batters’ resistance, which included his handy partnerships worth 44 and 63 with Vishal Bhati and Mohammed Kaif respectively.
With the field spread on the on-side, Jaiswal pulled Punjab captain Mayank Markande for three massive sixes in four balls to reach his hundred. He top-edged Sahil to be caught behind.
The scores:
Punjab — 1st innings: 191.
Bengal — 1st innings: Ankit Chatterjee c Malhotra b Gurnoor 11, Sudip Chatterjee c Malhotra b Aradhya 17, Sudip Gharami c Malhotra b Sahil 14, Anustup Majumdar c Vishwa b Gurnoor 32, Sumanta Gupta c Anmolpreet b Gurnoor 55, Suraj Jaiswal c Malhotra b Sahil 111, Abishek Porel c Mann b Sahil 52, Wriddhiman Saha c Malhotra b Gurnoor 0, Vishal Bhati (run out) 11, Mohammed Kaif lbw b Markande 27, Sumit Mohanta (not out) 1; Extras (b-2, lb-7, nb-2, w-1) 12; Total (in 92.4 overs): 343.
Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-42, 3-52, 4-102, 5-155, 6-217, 7-217, 8-263, 9-326
Punjab bowling: Gurnoor 28-4-74-4, Sahil 32-6-105-3, Aradhya 17-1-78-1, Markande 8.4-1-44-1, Kuckreja 5-1-29-0, Vishwa 2-1-4-0.
Punjab — 2nd innings: Vishwa Pratap Singh c Abishek b Kaif 23, Sahaj Dhawan c Abishek b Mohanta 3, Pukhraj Mann (run out) 0, Anmolpreet Singh (batting) 28, Prabhsimran Singh (batting) 9, Extras (nb-1) 1; Total (for three wkts. in 21 overs): 64.
Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-14, 3-49
Bengal bowling: Jaiswal 7-1-26-0, Mohanta 7-2-11-1, Kaif 7-1-27-1.
Published – January 31, 2025 05:30 pm IST
