Bengaluru, Jan 30: Debutant Sumit Mohanta (4/58) made an impressive start to his first-class career, while Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal (4/68) was brilliant once again as Bengal bowled out Punjab for 191 in their first innings at Eden Gardens.
Besides the duo, Mohammed Kaif (2/41) also bagged crucial wickets as the visitors kept losing wickets at regular intervals after Bengal opted to bowl.
It was Punjab’s Anmol Malhotra who stood firm, playing a fighting knock off 106 not out off 114 balls to provide some resistance.
In reply, Bengal, in their first innings, were 119/4 at stumps on the opening day, trailing by 72 runs.
Sumanta Gupta (39 batting) and Jaiswal (5 batting) remained at the crease.
Elsewhere, KL Rahul’s much-anticipated return to Ranji Trophy lasted a mere 37 balls as the India opener was dismissed for 26, leaving Karnataka at 267/5 against Haryana on day one of their must-win Group C match here on Thursday.
Making his first Ranji Trophy appearance since February 2020, local hero Rahul walked in at No. 3 to a warm reception from the semi-packed M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, with chants of ‘Rahul, Rahul’ echoing through the stands.The stylish right-hander looked in fine touch from the outset, striking four crisp boundaries in a fluent 54-run stand with Karnataka skipper Mayank Agarwal for the second wicket.However, just as he appeared to settle down, Rahul fell in the post-lunch session to Haryana’s in-form pacer Anshul Kamboj.The leading wicket-taker for Haryana this season produced a peach of a delivery that forced the experienced India batter into an edge, with wicketkeeper Rohit Sharma making no mistake behind the stumps.The Haryana pace spearhead was once again the pick of the bowler as he dismissed opener KV Avneesh (17) before lunch after the visiting side opted to bowl.
Rahul had last featured in a Ranji Trophy match nearly four years ago, against Bengal at the Eden Gardens quarterfinal, where he had scores of 26 and 0 in Karnataka’s 174-run defeat.
This season, his participation was delayed by an elbow injury, which ruled him out of Karnataka’s previous game against Punjab.
On a day when everyone wanted Rahul to make it big, it was the India discard and Karnataka skipper Agarwal who shone with an array of shots as he milked the field, hitting three sixes and nine boundaries in his fluent half century.Agarwal, however, missed out on his 19th first-class hundred by just nine runs. (PTI)
