Ranji Trophy: Manoj Tiwary and Shahbaz Ahmed keep Bengal afloat as MP hold upper-hand

At
stumps,
Tiwary
(84
batting,
182
balls)
played
his
best
knock
of
this
season,
while
Shahbaz
(72
batting,
149
balls)
was
equally
defiant
as
they
joined
forces
at
a
precarious
54
for
five
and
added
143
runs
for
the
unbroken
sixth
wicket.

This
was
after
a
64-run
seventh
wicket
stand
between
centurion
Himanshu
Mantri
(165,
372
balls)
and
Puneet
Datey
(33)
took
Madhya
Pradesh
to
a
more
than
respectable
first
inning
score
of
341.
Mukesh
Kumar
(4/66)
was
Bengal’s
best
bowler
by
a
distance.

While
Bengal’s
entire
hopes
rest
on
Tiwary
and
Shahbaz
but
144
runs
on
a
third
day
wicket
is
still
a
tall
climb
and
14
overs
are
left
before
the
new
ball
is
taken.

On
a
track
where
Bengal
left-arm
spinners
Shahbaz
(3/86
in
20
overs)
and
his
fellow
spinner
Pradipta
Pramanik
(1/50
in
14
overs)
failed
to
trouble
Mantri,
who
hit
19
fours
and
a
six,
MP
coach
Chandrakant
Pandit’s
ploy
of
using
Mumbai
Indians
spinner
Kumar
Kartikeya
(25-9-43-2)
first
up
with
the
new
ball,
just
before
lunch,
proved
to
be
a
masterstroke.

Kartikeya
removed
opener
Abhishek
Raman
(0)
and
last
match’s
hero
Sudip
Gharami
(0)
in
quick
succession
to
set
a
panic
attack
among
the
rank
and
file
in
the
Bengal
set-up.

While
Raman
dragged
one
back
to
the
stumps
when
there
was
no
room
for
cut,
Gharami
went
onto
back-foot
to
a
delivery
that
should
have
been
ideally
played
on
the
front-foot.
Without
going
to
the
pitch
of
the
delivery,
Gharami
allowed
it
to
turn
and
it
beat
his
bat
while
clipping
the
top
of
off-stump.

The
move
by
Pandit
at
the
stroke
of
lunch
was
more
about
trying
to
squeeze
in
as
many
overs
as
possible
in
a
short
15-minute
window
as
more
overs
before
break
does
put
batters
under
pressure.
The
second
reason
was
to
disturb
the
mindset
and
footwork
of
the
batters
and
the
plan
worked.

In
the
post
lunch
session,
Anushtup
Majumdar
edged
one
to
the
slips
while
talented
Abhishek
Porel
flicked
one
off
Puneet
Datey
to
find
the
fielder
at
square
leg
boundary.
In
between,
skipper
Abhimanyu
Easwaran
had
jabbed
at
a
Datey
delivery
on
the
off-stump
channel
to
be
caught
behind.

At
54
for
five,
Shahbaz
and
Tiwary
joined
hands
and
both
hit
some
crisp
drives
as
they
ended
the
day
with
nine
boundaries
each.
If
Shahbaz’s
pull
off
Gaurav
Yadav
was
his
best
shot,
Tiwary’s
reverse
sweep
off
Kartikeya
and
Saransh
were
treat
for
the
eyes.

Brief
Scores:
MP
341
(Himanshu
Mantri
165,
Mukesh
Kumar
4/66).
Bengal
197/5
(Manoj
Tiwary
84
batting,
Shahbaz
Ahmed
72
batting).