Bengal gift away lead

Instead,little did Pathan & Co realise that they didn’t need to earn the Bengal wickets. Sure,there were fireworks from Ganguly’s blade. And Bengal skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla gave plenty of entertainment. But in a display of inexcusable shot-selection,the Bengal batsmen simply gifted away the all-important lead to Baroda.

The former India captain scored a breezy 76 and Shukla scored a brisk 69,but the duo let Baroda off the hook during the tight chase by literally gifting away their wickets.

Needing 308 to get the first innings lead,Bengal looked well set on 218 for 4 at one stage with Ganguly setting himself up for a century. That’s when the rot started even as the Baroda bowling,particularly Irfan,was looking least threatening. In no time,Bengal lost their last six wickets for 75 runs,and the contest was virtually over on an Eden wicket which is getting easier to bat on.

After pacer Murtuja Vahora removed overnight batsman Arindam Das (61) off a debatable leg-before decision,wickets tumbled in a hurry. Bengal’s slide from an advantageous position started when Ganguly was cleaned up by Yusuf Pathan as he went for a rather casual back-foot prod. Bengal skipper Shukla,who was living dangerously with his heart-in-the-mouth lofted strokes throughout his knock,holed out as he played an atrocious inside-out chip off an innocuous Swapnil Singh delivery.

And the Bengal tail just folded up meekly with the opportunistic Vahora (4 for 35) mixing up his deliveries well in the end to mop up the proceedings.

By the time the dust had settled,Bengal were skittled out for 293,and Connor Williams & Co walked off with the 3-point lead for which they literally didn’t have to get their hands dirty today.

Baroda were 58 for 1 at stumps on Day Three,but the intensity of the match got over once the tussle for the first innings lead ended. Later on,after the day’s play,comeback man Irfan Pathan pointed out that Ganguly’s dismissal was the turning point in the match. “That dismissal changed the complexion of the game. He was batting well,and we desperately needed to dismiss him. Our strategies worked perfectly today as we got him just in time and picked up the rest of the wickets,” Irfan said.

The day began with Ganguly launching a full-fledged assault on Irfan,firing a spree of boundaries on the off-side. Ganguly completely dominated the bowling for the first hour or so,sending off Irfan to the sidelines even as national selector Narendra Hirwani looked closely. But once Yusuf got Ganguly to make the mistake that cost him his wicket,the tide turned in Baroda’s favour.

Brief scores: Baroda 307 & 58/1 vs Bengal 293 (Sourav Ganguly 76,Laxmi Ratan Shukla 69,Arindam Das 61; Murtuja Vahora 4/35,Irfan Pathan 3/90).