Saurashtra take firm grip

Kolkata, Feb 18: Saurashtra look poised to lift their second Ranji Trophy after skipper Jaydev Unadkat and Chetan Sakariya grabbed two wickets each to leave hosts Bengal struggling at 169 for four in their second innings on day three of the final at the Eden Gardens on Saturday.
While Bengal skipper Manoj Tiwary remained unbeaten on 57, the hosts are still 61 runs short of Saurashtra’s first-innings total of 404, and with both Saurashtra left-arm pace bowlers breathing fire, Unadkat’s side could well wrap up the game on Sunday.
Bengal’s pace-heavy attack looked ineffective in the morning as Saurashtra, continuing from where they had left on Friday evening – 317/5 – added 87 more runs to take their score past 400.
Though overnight batters Arpit Vasavada (81) and Chirag Jani (60) perished quickly, tail-enders Prerak Mankad (33) and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (29) gave Saurashtra the winning edge. To add to Bengal’s woes, they gave away 35 extras.
Coming in to bat in the second innings, Bengal had a harrowing start with the pace duo of Sakariya (2/50) and Unadkat (2/47) rattling the top-order to reduce them to 47/3 in the post-lunch session.
Still trailing by 183 runs, an innings defeat loomed large when the veteran duo of Anustup Majumdar (61) and Tiwary came together and gave the 1,000-odd fans some hope with their 99-run partnership.
At close, Shahbaz Ahmed (13 batting) was giving Tiwary company at the crease.
Bengal can only hope for a magical turnaround in quest of their maiden Ranji Trophy title in 32 years.
The onus is on Tiwary and Shahbaz, the last recognised batting pair for Bengal, to make an improbable turnaround.
Saurashtra had won their maiden Ranji Trophy title beating Bengal three years ago at Rajkot. (PTI)