Ranji Trophy: Bengal take lead against Odisha

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Bengal rode on a disciplined pace attack to secure a first innings lead against Odisha in their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal clash here on Saturday. The pace troika of Ishan Porel (3/72), Nilkantha Das (3/43) and Mukesh Kumar (3/51) shared nine wickets among them to bundle out Odisha for 250 to secure an 82-run first innings lead and put one foot in the semifinals.

At close on day three, Bengal were 79 for two, extending their overall lead to 161 with Abhishek Raman (4) and in-form senior batsman Manoj Tiwary (3) at crease. With little on offer from the flat DRIEMS Ground here in the outskirts of Cuttack, Odisha's four-pronged pace attack failed to make any use of the new ball as Bengal made a solid start to their second essay. But it was due to some reckless batting by captain Abhimanyu Easwaran (30) and Koushik Ghosh (41), Bengal lost two wickets for 16 runs after putting on a 60-run opening partnership.

The duo was at its dogged best to see off the new ball as Bengal, who had put up a stunning first innings recovery from being 46/5, started off cautiously in their second essay. It was only in the last hour's play when Odisha brought in spinner Govinda Poddar, the India A regular, Abhimanyu lost his concentration and stepped out for an expansive drive to clear the open off-side region but only to be caught at cover.

Having got a reprieve at slip by Biplab Samantray, Koushik Ghosh too could not convert his start and was bowled, after being deceived in flight while trying to step out to part-time spinner Anurag Sarangi. Nevertheless, Bengal would find themselves in a comfortable position going into the penultimate day of the knockout fixture with eight wickets intact.

The pace-heavy Odisha attack sorely missed pacer Rajesh Mohanty, their second leading wicket taker with 32 wickets, as the likes of Basant Mohanty, Suryakant Pradhan failed to make any impact with the new ball. The Bengal pace battery of Porel, Mukesh and newcomer Das stuck to their task, dismissing the remaining six batsmen for 99 runs after Odisha resumed day three at 151 for 4.

The first breakthrough however came almost an hour into the morning and it was Das who started it all by dismissing nightwatchman Debabrata Pradhan. Mukesh then got into the act with a twin blow Samantray (3) and Rajesh Dhuper (10) before the lunch break.

The lanky pacer Porel then went through the tail as Odisha lost their last three wickets for 15 runs to concede the lead and give visitors' the edge.

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