A lower-order collapse restricted Bengal to 201 in their second innings on the penultimate day of the game at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack
It is again on the bowlers to guide Bengal to victory in their second Ranji Trophy group stage clash vs Hyderabad.
A lower-order collapse in their second innings restricted Bengal to 201 on the final day of the game at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. However, their bowlers again responded well and they bundled out Hyderabad for 16 for 3 at stumps on Saturday.
Senior supporter Mukesh Kumar and his fast bowlers Akash Deep and Ishan Porel took a wicket each after Hyderabad set a target of 239.
“The pitch here comes alive every morning. So it will be important for us to take advantage of that and strike in the first hour tomorrow (Sunday)," said Bengal head coach Arun Lal.
Promising wicketkeeper-batsman Abhishek Porel could not even open his account in Bengal's second innings but all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed's crisp 51 and contributions from Ritwik Roy Chowdhury (41) and Anustup Majumdar (42) helped Bengal cross 200 . But they lost their last five wickets for just 18 runs and this decline in Bengal's batting worries the management.
Brief scores: Bengal 242 and 201 (S. Ahmed 51; T. Thiagarajan 3/44, T. Verma 3/13). Hyderabad 205 and 16/3. At stumps, Day 3