Bengal enter Ranji Trophy semis

Bengaluru, June 10: Seamlessly juggling politics and cricket, Manoj Tiwary on Friday achieved what no one else did in 88 years of Ranji Trophy: score a hundred while being a sitting minister in a state government.
Without an iota of doubt, Tiwary’s 136 was the highlight of an inconsequential fifth day’s play as Bengal advanced to the semi-finals of the Ranji Trophy on the basis of their massive first-innings lead.
In between signing files related to his constituency, Tiwary, a sitting minister of sports and youth affairs in the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government, struck 19 fours and two sixes.
The 36-year-old veteran also scored 73 in Bengal’s first essay.
Throughout the quarterfinal game, which looked one-sided from the onset, with Bengal posting a mammoth 773 for 7 in their first innings with all their top nine batters hitting at least a half century, smashing a 250-year-old record in first class cricket.
The only consolation for Jharkhand was that Shahbaz Nadeem bagged 5/59. (PTI)