Published: Feb 03, 2016, 07:45 AM (IST)
Edited: Aug 31, 2016, 10:06 AM (IST)
Hello and welcome to CricketCountry’s live coverage of Day 1 of the 2015-16 Ranji Trophy quarter-final between Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, live from Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai. Bengal were one of the two teams to go through the league stage undefeated, Mumbai being the other. They qualified from Group A with 28 points, a solitary point behind Vidarbha. Madhya Pradesh, on the other hand, were tied at third spot on 24 points with Gujarat in Group B, and scraped through based on a nominally better net run rate (-0.06 to Gujarat’s -0.09). However, given that both sides will be playing full-strength, it will certainly be a hard-fought contest.
LIVE CRICKET SCORE Madhya Pradesh 254/4 in 87 overs | Batting: Devendra Bundela 42(117), Harpreet Singh Bhatia 51(88):STUMPS!! Harpreet Singh Bhatia has managed to get his score past 50 in his long standing innings with Devendra Bundela. Bundela who himself in on 42 will to take his team wicket less after losing 4 wickets in the first two sessions till stumps on Day 1.
LIVE CRICKET SCORE Madhya Pradesh 166/4 in 59 overs | Batting: Devendra Bundela 8(34), Harpreet Singh Bhatia 0(1) : Bengal have managed to pull in the strings picking up quick wickets of Aditya Shrivastava and Naman Ojha . Shrivastava and Ojha had made a hundred run stand before Shrivastava fell for 65 runs. Ojha was out just on the brink of tea going for 64 runs. Pragyan Ojha and Veer Pratap Singh picked up these two wickets. Veer Pratap has so far taken 2 wickets so far.
LIVE CRICKET SCORE Madhya Pradesh 129/2 in 43 overs | Batting: Aditya Shrivastava 58(127), Naman Ojha 42(70): Aditya Shrivastava and Naman Ojha have managed to put up quick runs in this session post lunch. Shrivastava has also brought on his half -century hitting a near perfect straight drive. Ojha on the other hand have looked fluent striking seven boundaries so far in his knock of 42*. Bengal will depend on Pragyan Ojha for wickets .
LIVE CRICKET SCORE Madhya Pradesh 88/2 in 34 overs | Batting: Aditya Shrivastava 41(98), Naman Ojha 23(43): Aditya Shrivastava and Naman Ojha will look to get Madhya Pradesh past a 100 to 150 without losing any more wickets. Shrivastava is also nearing to his fifty, currently on 41 runs. While Naman Ojha has looked in aggressive mode making 22 runs in 43 balls with four boundaries.
LIVE CRICKET SCORE Madhya Pradesh 39/2 in 20.3 overs | Batting: Aditya Shrivastava 14(54), Naman Ojha :OUT!! Sayan Shekhar Mandal cleans up Rajat Patidar for 17 runs. Patidar was looking solid and playing with much grit in his stand out in the middle. Mandal has been bowling quick and within his limits, gets a perfect in swinging delivery to hover the leg stump in the air. Aditya Shrivastava has now been joined by Naman Ohja who will look to stay put and provide stability to the Madhya Pradesh innings.
LIVE CRICKET SCORE Madhya Pradesh 35/1 in Over 18 | Batting: Aditya Shrivastava 14(54), Rajat Patidar 13(47) : After the fall of Jalaj Saxena, Bengal bowlers have not managed to make any inroads into the Madhya Pradesh batting line-up. As the sun rises the movement from the pitch has only been reducing. Manoj Tiwary has looked to keep a changing his bowlers in quick bursts. Bengal will depend on Pragyan Ohja for wickets as the day progresses. Aditya Shrivastava and Rajat Patidar have been able to keep the bowlers at bay so far. The scoring rate has been on the slower side so far.
LIVE CRICKET SCORE Madhya Pradesh 32/1 in Over 13 | Batting: Aditya Shrivastava 13(35), Rajat Patidar 11(30) : Pragyan Ojha has come into the attack to break the blooming partnership between Adita Shrivastava and Rajat Patidar.FOUR!! Shrivastava hits a lovely looking shot on the back foot of Mukesh Kumar, who has come into the attack in the ninth over. Patidar was also lucky to have survived an incoming delivery from Kumar in the 11th over, ball just going above the stumps. Kumar has managed to get unsettle Patidar.
LIVE CRICKET SCORE Madhya Pradesh 18/1 in Over 6 | Batting: Aditya Shrivastava 4(18), Rajat Patidar 6(12) : Some strict bowling by the Bengal bowlers have lead to the early wicket of Jalaj Saxena for 8. Veerpratap Singh gets the early inroad as MP does have a fairly long batting line up. This has been a good start for the Bengal bowlers, Aditya Shrivastava and Rajat Patidar are now looking to consolidate the innings. It has been seen that the pitch does have even bounce and pace.
LIVE CRICKET SCORE Madhya Pradesh 0/0 in Over 1 | Batting: Aditya Shrivastava 0(6), Jalaj Saxena 0(0) : Bengal captain Manoj Tiwary after winning the toss decided to bowl first. Madhya Pradesh on the other hand will look to bat well and gain a minimum of 300+ runs. Ashoke Dinda bowled an excellent first over getting the ball to leave the batsman.
With 712 runs at 54.76 and 4 hundreds under his belt, Sudip Chatterjee will definitely form the backbone of Bengal’s batting line-up. He will be supported by veteran Manoj Tiwary (if fit) and opener Abhimanyu Easwaran. With no Tests lined up in future, Wriddhiman Saha will also be available. As for the bowling, a lot will depend on Ashok Dinda and Pragyan Ojha, though they will get support from medium-pacers Veer Pratap Singh and Mukesh Kumar, and off-spinner Aamir Gani.
Jalaj Saxena, one of the finest performers in the league stages, played a key role in Madhya Pradesh’s rise with 530 runs at 44.16 and 46 wickets at 20.30. However, he will need support, and though Rajat Patidar, Rameez Khan, Harpreet Singh, Naman Ojha, and Aditya Shrivastava have all contributed with bat, none of them has been exceptional. A lot will depend on the left-arm spin of Ankit Sharma and the leg-break of Mihir Hirwani, and the old workhorse, Ishwar Pandey.
Squads:
Bengal: Manoj Tiwary (c), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shreevats Goswami (wk), Pragyan Ojha, Ashok Dinda, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Sudip Chatterjee, Abhishek Das, Aamir Gani, Veer Pratap Singh, Parthasarathi Bhattacharjee, Naved Ahmed, Sourav Sarkar, Pankaj Shaw.
Madhya Pradesh: Devendra Bundela (c), Naman Ojha (wk), Jalaj Saxena, Ishwar Pandey, Rajat Patidar, Harpreet Singh, Mihir Hirwani, Ankit Sharma, Udit Birla, Ankit Dane, Puneet Datey, Mohnish Mishra, Rameez Khan, Yogesh Rawat, Aditya Shrivastava.
