Published: Oct 16, 2015, 08:30 AM (IST)
Edited: Aug 31, 2016, 02:55 PM (IST)
Hello and welcome to CricketCountry’s live coverage of Day 2 of the Group A game of the 2015-16 Ranji Trophy between Bengal and Rajasthan, live from Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Unfortunately, play has been scant on Day One thanks to the persistent rain in Kolkata, resulting in a mere 43.2 overs of cricket. Rajasthan, having put in first, have ambled to 102 for 3 thanks to some late hitting by captain Ashok Menaria. Vineet Saxena (31) and Puneet Yadav (0) are at the crease at stumps. It may be interesting to note that Bengal have included two spinners: off-spinner Aamir Gani, who has played Under-19 Tests and One-Day Internationals (ODIs) for India Under-19s, has been included alongside Pragyan Ojha. READ: Full coverage, Ranji Trophy 2015-16 here
Suryaprakash Siwalka set off to a bright start before Veer Pratap Singh bowled him for a 23-ball 18. Siwalka hit 5 fours. Rajasthan’s score read 23 at this stage, and it was only the 6th over. Ashok Dinda bowled an accurate spell at this stage, and runs dried up after Manoj Tiwary introduced Ojha. After failing against Karnataka, Ojha struck early, removing Ankit Lamba cheaply.
Menaria played cautiously before opening up. He soon outscored Saxena, and hit 5 fours and a six on his way to an 86-ball 46 before Ojha cleaned him up. Persistent rain, unfortunately, brought the curtains down early. It was probably good for Bengal, for their bowlers will be reasonably fresh going into Day Two. Another good news for Bengal is the return of the talented Abhimanyu Easwaran, who has recovered from his injury.
Live cricket scores Rajasthan 140/5 | Overs 59.4| Batting: Vineet Saxena 44(166), DH Yagnik 0(4): AR Gupta gets out on 57 and with this wicket Pragyan Ojha takes his wickets tally to three. Vineet Saxena is still on the crease and is batting on 44 i.e. just six runs short of his fifty. DH Yagnik has come to the middle, he has faced four balls and is yet to get off the mark.
OUT! AR Gupta c Eswaran b Pragyan Ojha 5(27)
Live cricket scores Rajasthan 137/4 | Overs 55.4| Batting: Vineet Saxena 42(159), AR Gupta 4(14): Rajasthan lose their fourth wicket PR Yadav. Yadav made 14 runs, his wicket was claimed by Ashok Dinda. This was Dinda’s first wicket in this match. If Rajasthan wants to avoid a draw in this match they have to play slightly faster.
OUT! PR Yadav c Sudip Chatterjee b Ashok Dinda 14(24)
Live cricket scores Rajasthan 119/3 | Overs 47.3| Batting: Vineet Saxena 34(135), PR Yadav 10(13): Vineet Saxena is batting on 34 at a strike rate of 25.19, he needs to up his scoring rate. Saxena has struck five boundaries in his knock so far. PR Yadav is on the other end batting on 10. Their partnership is worth 18 runs.
Brief scores:
Rajasthan 102 for 3 (Ashok Menaria 40*) vs Bengal.
Teams:
Bengal: Manoj Tiwary (c), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Sudip Chatterjee, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Aamir Ghani, Pankaj Shaw, Ashok Dinda, Pragyan Ojha, Naved Ahmed, Veer Pratap Singh, Shreevats Goswami.
Rajasthan: Ashok Menaria (c), Dishant Yagnik (wk), Suryaprakash Siwalka, Vineet Saxena, Ankit Lamba, Puneet Lamba, Arjit Gupta, Deepak Chahar, Aniket Choudhary, Nathu Singh, Ajay Singh.
