Ranji Trophy: Bengal batters come a cropper on a truncated opening day

Abishek Porel stood out with a fine half-century even as Bengal posted its lowest total of the season, 143, on the opening day of its Ranji Trophy Elite Group-C match at the Eden Gardens on Monday.

Asked to bat, Bengal put up a forgettable performance as Maharashtra pacers Pradeep Dadhe and Tanay Sanghavi impressed with three-wicket hauls. In reply, Maharashtra was 21 for two when bad light stopped play.

While Maharashtra seamers extracted some seam movement, Bengal batters made things difficult for themselves due to lack of application and poor shot selection.

Home captain Abhimanyu Easwaran perished chasing an wide delivery off Rajvardhan Hangargekar. His opposite number Prithvi Shaw fumbled before Sachin Dhas completed the catch at first slip.

Abhimanyu’s departure triggered a miserable procession. Ankur Paul lobbed one to cover and Suraj Jaiswal offered an outside edge off Dadhe’s successive deliveries.

Sudip Chatterjee shouldered arms to be adjudged leg-before while Sudip Gharami was bowled in a similar fashion as Sanghavi was rewarded for his consistency.

When Shahbaz Ahmed gave a return catch to Hangargekar and Sumanta Gupta edged Dadhe to slips, Bengal was reeling at 72 for seven in the first session.

Porel (54, 67b, 8×4) and Pradipta Pramanik (31, 43b, 5×4) forged a 66-run stand to take the home side past 100 runs. Porel executed lovely drives on the off-side and straight down the ground while scoring his first fifty of the season.

Off-spinner Siddhesh Veer accounted for both batters before Sanghavi dismissed Mohammed Shami to end Bengal’s innings within an hour after lunch.

Dadhe, who hit the right areas and tested the batters, Sanghavi, Hangargekar and Veer maintained constant pressure to give Maharashtra an advantage.

Thanks to Shami’s burst, Bengal kept itself in the contest even after a disastrous batting display. In his fourth over, the crafty pacer knocked over Shaw’s off-stump and trapped Digvijay Patil lbw off consecutive deliveries.

Bad light, owing to overcast sky, stopped play at 1.52 p.m. before the eventual draw of stumps.

The scores:

Bengal — 1st innings: Abhimanyu Easwaran c Dhas b Hangargekar 10, Ankur Paul c Walunj b Dadhe 1, Sudip Gharami b Sanghavi 19, Suraj Jaiswal c Dhas b Dadhe 0, Sudip Chatterjee lbw b Sanghavi 7, Abishek Porel c Bawne b Veer 54, Shahbaz Ahmed c&b Hangargekar 0, Sumanta Gupta c Dhas b Dadhe 7, Pradipta Pramanik c Patil b Veer 31, Mohd. Shami c Nawale b Sanghavi 0, Mohd. Kaif (not out) 0; Extras (b-10, lb-2, nb-1, w-1): 14; Total (in 36.5 overs): 143.

Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-18, 3-18, 4-37, 5-54, 6-59, 7-72, 8-138, 9-139.

Maharashtra bowling: Dadhe 14-5-45-3, Hangargekar 8-0-42-2, Sanghavi 9-2-30-3, Veer 5.5-0-14-2.

Maharashtra — 1st innings: Prithvi Shaw b Shami 12, Siddhesh Veer (batting) 7, Digvijay Patil lbw b Shami 0, Ankit Bawne (batting) 2; Total (for two wkts. in eight overs): 21.

Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-18.

Bengal bowling: Shami 4-1-6-2, Jaiswal 2-0-9-0, Kaif 1-0-5-0, Shahbaz 1-0-1-0.