Ranji Trophy Updates: Bengal Dominates Andhra, Pujara Shines for Saurashtra
Strong Performances and Notable Centuries Highlight Day II Action
On the second day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B encounter against Andhra at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam, Bengal remained strong.
At the end of Day II, Bengal had taken three wickets off the opponents after an impressive 409 in the first innings.
Mohammad Kaif, Pradipta Pramanik, and Akash Deep all claimed wickets as Andhra reached 119/3 at the end of the first innings on Saturday. As a result, the host team was still 290 runs short of Bengal's first innings total.
Bengal lost night watchman Kaif early in the day, and they started the day with an overnight score of 289/4.
But captain Manoj Tiwary (32) and Abishek Porel (70) held their ground and added some crucial runs to the total. Abishek teamed up with Karan Lal (19) to assist the team surpass the 350-run threshold following Manoj's departure.
With the help of keeper-battler Abishek, Bengal also crossed the 400-mark. The last individual to be sacked was Abishek.
Lalith Mohan (4/134) was the best bowler for Andhra.
In response, Andhra got off to a great start thanks to DB Prashanth Kumar (41) and CR Gnaneshwar (33). However, the bowlers from Bengal hit three times to hold onto the leash.
Brief scores: Lalith Mohan 4/134; Bengal 409 (Sourav Paul 96, Anustup Majumdar 125, Abishek Porel 70). Andhra 119/3 (Kumar Prasanth 41). Day II at stumps.
Ton Pujara
In the Group A encounter between Saurashtra and Jharkhand in Rajkot, the reigning champions achieved 406/4 thanks to an unbeaten century from Cheteshwar Pujara, who was benched for the two-Test series against South Africa.
As Pujara batted with 157, the stumps were drawn.
On the first day of play, Saurashtra had easily defeated Jharkhand for a pitiful 142.
Pujara consumed 239 deliveries for his undefeated innings that featured 19 boundaries, finding the gaps and sometimes punishing the loose deliveries.
Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Press Time staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.
