Bengal secure first innings lead against Odisha

Tangi:Bengal rode on a disciplined pace attack to secure a first innings lead against Odisha in their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal clash here on Saturday.
The pace troika of Ishan Porel (3/72), Nilkantha Das (3/43) and Mukesh Kumar (3/51) shared nine wickets among them to bundle out Odisha for 250 to secure an 82-run first innings lead and put one foot in the semifinals.
At close on day three, Bengal were 79 for two, extending their overall lead to 161 with Abhishek Raman (4) and in-form senior batsman Manoj Tiwary (3) at crease.
With little on offer from the flat DRIEMS Ground here in the outskirts of Cuttack, Odisha’s four-pronged pace attack failed to make any use of the new ball as Bengal made a solid start to their second essay.
But it was due to some reckless batting by captain Abhimanyu Easwaran (30) and Koushik Ghosh (41), Bengal lost two wickets for 16 runs after putting on a 60-run opening partnership. In other game, Jammu and Kashmir were in a good a position to take the crucial first-innings lead after bowling out Karnataka for 206 on day three of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal on Saturday. (PTI)