Tuesday, December 23, 2008
New Delhi, Dec 18 (IANS) Playing in his only second first-class match Dibendu Chakraborty grew in confidence in the company of Sourav Ganguly and took Bengal to a comfortable 257 for five in the first innings against Goa on the first day of the Ranji Trophy Plate semi-final here Thursday.At the close of play, Chakraborty was batting 75, his second consecutive half-century, and Ganguly 69 and together they stitched an unbroken 130-run partnership for the sixth wicket to resurrect the innings that wore a tattered look after a brilliant spell by medium pacer Saurabh Bandekar (4-51) at the Karnail Singh Stadium.
Former India captain Ganguly, who retired from international cricket last month, is playing his last first-class match to help 2006 elite group finalists Bengal to get back into the Super Division. A sizeable crowd gathered at the stadium to have a look at Ganguly’s last outing in the white dress. A win will help Bengal qualify for the elite group but even if they qualify for the final, Ganguly will not play.
Put into bat first, Bengal suffered the first jolt in the fourth over when Robin D’Souza rattled Avik Chowdhury’s (2)stumps with just five runs on board. But Anustup Mazumdar (39) and Wriddhiman Saha (54) played sensibly and added 96-runs for the second wicket as Bengal took lunch at 101/1.
Disaster struck for Bengal in the very first over after lunch when Saha failed to adjust to Bandekar’s late swing and edged to wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra. Manoj Tiwari’s woeful form continued and two balls later he walked back to the pavilion with a careless shot off Bandekar caught by Ratra as Bengal slumped to101/3.
