Players Details
Fixture & Results
Gharami scores 101, Bengal need 9
wickets to beat Himachal
22nd December 2022
Sudip Kumar Gharami scored an outstanding 101 as Bengal remained just 9 wickets away from a fantastic victory on the fourth and final day against Himachal Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group A clash at the Eden.
Chasing a challenging target of 472, Himachal were 79/1 in their second innings at stumps on Day 3 on Thursday after Bengal posted 291/5 decl. in their second innings.
Earlier, resuming the day from overnight score of 89/1, Bengal lost opener Koushik Ghosh (23) cheaply to reduce Bengal to 98/2.
Incoming and in-form batsman Anustup Majumdar came in to give good support to Gharami.
The experienced Anustup once again played a handy knock smashing five fours in his 38-run innings.
The duo added a 52-run partnership for the third wicket to take team to 150-run mark.
But after the soft dismissal of Anustup, skipper Manoj Tiwary came in with a positive intent.
The senior pro played a classy quickfire 83-ball 50 smashing 5 fours to pile on the more misery for the visitors.
Along with Gharami, Manoj added a vital 106-run partnership for the fourth wicket to help Bengal cross 250.
Gharami too scored some quick runs to notch up his century as Bengal extended their lead over 400.
But with the duo back in the hut, Shahbaz Ahmed (19) and Abishek Porel (11) remained unbeaten as Bengal declared with a huge lead on the board.
Speaking on his fine century, Gharami said," I am very happy to contribute for my team. It was entirely a team planning to play aggressively and pile on some quick runs. I spoke to Laxmi (Ratan Shukla) da and Manoj (Tiwary) da and they gave me full freedom to play my natural game. I wanted to do well in the second innings after I didn't get much runs in the first. Tomorrow morning session will be vital as quick wickets will put them under pressure."
CAB MEDIA DESK
Arindam Basu