Ranji Trophy Semi-final: Centurions Anustup Majumdar, Sudip Gharami Put Bengal in Driver’s Seat Against MP

Bengal trouble-shooter Anustup Majumdar and youngster Sudeep Gharami hit centuries under pressure but the Ranji Trophy semi-finals suffered a defeat at the end of the day against defending champions Madhya Pradesh, who were equally drawn on Wednesday.

Displaying resilience, Majumdar (120) and Gharami (112) put on 241 off 414 balls as Bengal reduced the innings to 51 for 2 in less than an hour of play on the opening day at the Holkar Stadium here. done.

But the duo made a quick comeback in the final session with Madhya Pradesh striking the new ball to open the match.

Bengal’s score was 307 for four with captain Manoj Tiwary (5) opening the batting with Shahbaz Ahmed (6).

Majumdar hit 13 fours and a six in his 206-ball innings to reach his 13th first-class century, while Gharami took full advantage of Rajat Patidar’s 26 in relief to bring up his fourth century.

Gharami’s 213-ball innings contained 12 fours and two sixes as the duo dominated the second session and frustrated the Chandrakant Pandit-coached side by scoring easy runs in the wide fields.

Kumar Karthikeya and Saransh Jain worked together for the greater part but both the batsmen batted with ease.

Madhya Pradesh used seven bowlers on the day, with Anubhav Agarwal leading the attack with 12-5-21-2 while pacer Avesh Khan toiled for 1/79 in 20 overs.

But Madhya Pradesh came back strongly in the final session and the new ball did the trick for them.

Having gone wicketless so far, Avesh took the new ball in the 82nd over and yorked Mazumdar, who was guilty of playing down the wrong line.

Full length delivery after pitch to crash the off stump as Majumdar tried to work the ball through midwicket.

As in the first session, Bengal lost another wicket, with a well-set Gharami trapped lbw with a delivery that came back swiftly.

As two set batsmen returned to the pavilion, Bengal survived some anxious moments towards the end of the day with the duo of Avesh and Agarwal bowling a probing line.

There were edges that fell short, while the left-handed Ahmed was hammered through the off-stump line. Bengal brought in rookie all-rounder Karan Lal to open alongside the talented Abhimanyu Easwaran after Tiwary won the toss well.

But the opening pair failed to get off to a good start and were dismissed in successive overs for 51 in less than an hour in the morning session.

Easwaran (27 from 33 balls; 5×4) was the first to go into the batsman’s defense with an incoming delivery from Gaurav Yadav.

Red was also done by an inswinger by Agarwal as Bengal lost both openers. Brief Score Bengal 307/4; 87 overs (Anustup Majumdar 120, Sudeep Gharami 112; Anubhav Agarwal 2/21) v Madhya Pradesh.

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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)