Published: Nov 17, 2015, 08:57 PM (IST)
Edited: Nov 17, 2015, 08:57 PM (IST)
Pune: Rahul Tripathi (116) hit his third first class century and shared an unbeaten 139-run stand with Ankit Bawne (59) to lead Maharashtra‘s fight back in their Ranji Trophy Group A match against Bengal, on Tuesday. Bengal declared their first innings at overnight score of 528 for eight at the start of the day and the hosts batted with resolve, ending the day at 296 for three. They are still trailing by 232 runs and have a task at hand to avoid conceding first innings lead. Bengal paceman Ashoke Dinda removed Harshad Khadiwale (5) in the fifth over of the day but Swapnil Gugale (35) and Sangram Atitkar (69) added 56 runs for the second wicket. UPDATES: Maharashtra vs Bengal, Ranji Trophy 2015-16, Group A match, Day 3 at Pune
Mukesh Kumar trapped Gugale to break the stand but the hosts endured another strong partnership of 90 runs between Atitkar and Tripathi. Dinda dismissed Atitkar but Tripathi continued to bat impressively in the company of Bawne. The hosts did not lose any wicket in the final session of the day. Tripathi has hit 13 fours and two sixes in his 227-ball knock so far.
Bengal finished on a massive score of 528 for eight at the end of the second day’s play, with Pragyan Ojha and Ashok Dinda batting on 14 and 2 respectively. Chirag Khurana has been the leading wicket-taker for Maharashtra so far, having taken four wickets at the expense of 141 runs, including that of Chatterjee. Samad Fallah (and Domnic Muthuswami were the other members of the side.
Brief Scores:
Bengal 528 for 8 decl. lead Maharashtra 296 for 3 (R Tripathi 116*, S Atitkar 69; A Dinda 2 for 77) by 232 runs.
