Senapati grinds out half-century to maintain Madhya Pradesh in rivalry

Opener Subhransu Senapati scored a gritty half-century to maintain Madhya Pradesh within the hunt for an outright win over Bengal within the Ranji Trophy Elite Group-C match on the Holkar Stadium right here on Friday.

Resuming at 170 for 5, Bengal made 276 in its second innings and set Madhya Pradesh a goal of 338.

The competition is evenly poised because the host, at 150 for 3 on day three, wants 188 runs whereas Bengal requires seven wickets to file victory on the ultimate day.

In a single day batters Writtick Chatterjee (52, 106b, 6×4) and Wriddhiman Saha (44, 115b, 3×4) concentrated exhausting for a 67-run stand.

Writtick pulled Kumar Kartikeya to deep-square leg shortly after finishing his half-century.

A affected person Saha largely scored in singles earlier than being given out, caught at first slip off Kartikeya whereas making an attempt a scoop, and walked again dissatisfied.

Using his luck, Mohammed Shami (37, 36b, 2×4 2×6) swung his bat so as to add 39 runs along with his brother Kaif for the ultimate wicket earlier than turning into Kartikeya’s fourth sufferer. His cameo helped Bengal set a difficult goal.

With the observe turning into docile and a few deliveries preserving low, Bengal bowlers needed to work exhausting.

The fitting-left opening mixture of Senapati (50, 110b, 6×4) and Himanshu Mantri (44, 77b, 4×4) gave Madhya Pradesh a nice begin.

Senapati, who survived two lbw appeals and received a ‘life’ on 14, performed fluent drives on both facet, whereas Mantri largely rotated the strike and infrequently discovered a boundary.

Shami, bowling 11 overs in 4 spells at velocity, tried totally different lengths and leaked runs.

Rohit Kumar supplied the breakthrough as Mantri’s vanguard went to deep fine-leg.

Senapati added 41 runs with Rajat Patidar (32, 41b, 4×4) earlier than being bowled by Shahbaz.

Shami eliminated night time watchman Anubhav Agarwal cheaply, however captain Shubham Sharma and Patidar, who executed sweetly-timed pictures, prevented additional harm.

The scores:

Bengal — 1st innings: 228.

Madhya Pradesh — 1st innings: 167.

Bengal — 2nd innings: Shuvam Dey c Kartikeya b Aryan 4, Sudip Gharami st. Mantri b Kartikeya 40, Sudip Chatterjee b Anubhav 40, Anustup Majumdar lbw b Anubhav 19, Writtick Chatterjee c Aryan b Kartikeya 52, Shahbaz Ahmed c Mantri b Anubhav 3,. Wriddhiman Saha c Patidar b Saransh 44, Rohit Kumar lbw b Kartikeya 3, Suraj Jaiswal c (sub) Dubey b Anubhav 5, Mohammed Shami st. Mantri b Kartikeya 37, Mohammed Kaif (not out) 6; Extras (b-4, lb-10, nb-1, w-8): 23; Complete (in 88.3 overs): 276.

Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-63, 3-99, 4-124, 5-133, 6-200, 7-213, 8-219, 9-237.

Madhya Pradesh bowling: Aryan 14-2-36-1, Anubhav 22-3-74-4, Khejroliya 19-4-56-0, Kartikeya 25.3-3-76-4, Saransh 8-0-20-1.

Madhya Pradesh — 2nd innings: Subhransu Senapati b Shahbaz 50, Himanshu Mantri c Shahbaz b Rohit 44, Rajat Patidar (batting) 32, Anubhav Agarwal lbw b Shami 2, Shubham Sharma (batting) 18; Extras (b-3, nb-1): 4; Complete (for 3 wkts. in 41 overs): 150.

Fall of wickets: 1-84, 2-125, 3-128.

Bengal bowling: Shami 11-1-55-1, Jaiswal 9-2-25-0, Rohit 7-4-20-1, Shahbaz 6-0-21-1, Kaif 8-1-26-0.