Bengal couldn’t quite wrap it up within an hour, which they had aimed for after being in absolute control at the end of Day III of their Ranji Trophy quarter-final clash against Jharkhand at Eden Gardens. But they did not take much longer either.
The first session of the penultimate day was good enough for Manoj Tiwary and his teammates to seal the deal with a nine-wicket win and confirm a semi-final berth for the third time on the trot.
Jharkhand’s ninth-wicket pair of Supriyo Chakraborty (41 not out) and Rahul Shukla did frustrate Bengal a little bit with their 56-run stand after Mukesh Kumar had Shahbaz Nadeem — one of the overnight batsmen — caught behind in the very first over on Friday.
However, a needless run out of Shukla helped Bengal break the stand. And within the next two balls, Akash Ghatak, in his first over of the day, varied his pace well to knock over No.11 Ashish Kumar.
Jharkhand’s second innings ended at 221, setting Bengal a target of 67. Abhimanyu Easwaran (28 not out) and Sudip Gharami (26 not out) took just 12.4 overs to notch up the required runs.
Abhimanyu Easwaran and (right) Sudip Gharami after Bengal’s quarter-final victory over Jharkhand on Friday. Santosh Ghosh
Pacer Akash Deep was named Man of the Match for his match figures of six for 108.
“Discipline, discipline and discipline. That has been our mantra this season,” Bengal head coach Laxmi Ratan Shukla said following the victory.
“You also require a proper team environment in order to give your best out there in the middle. I’m taking care of stuff inside the dressing room, while Manoj is taking care of matters on the field. We just want to keep the good work going on.”
Bengal will face defending champions Madhya Pradesh — who beat Andhra by five wickets in the quarter-final game in Indore — in the lastfour stage. Madhya Pradesh, in fact, had beaten Bengal in the Ranji semi-finals last season as well.
“One poor session in our first innings (of that semi-final clash) cost us the game. But it’s past now and we no longer have that game in our minds. Neither do we look at Madhya Pradesh as our nemesis or anything of that sort,” captain Tiwary stated.
The team management rightly isn’t dwelling on the past, but Bengal mull bringing off-spinner all-rounder Karan Lal back in their scheme of things for the semi-final, expecting a spin-friendly track in Indore.
“Since our pace attack is quite strong, there’s every possibility of the red-soil pitch there being spin-friendly. So we may need an extra spinner,” a Bengal team source said.
The opening combination, though, continues to worry Bengal as Kazi Junaid Saifi perished cheaply once again scoring only four in the second innings. It remains to be seen if Saifi is given another opportunity to prove his mettle in the semi-final.
Brief scores: Jharkhand 173 & 221 (S. Chakraborty 41 n.o.; A. Ghatak 3/21). Bengal 328 & 69/1. Bengal won by 9 wickets.
Ranji semis
■ Bengal vs Madhya Pradesh in Indore
■ Karnataka vs Punjab/ Saurashtra
