DELHI IN TROUBLE

From a modest 265 for 4 yesterday,the Bengal batsmen plundered the bowling nearly all day today to finish their first innings on an almost unassailable 522. With a mammoth chase weighing on their minds in the backdrop of the hunt for three points,the Delhi openers succumbed to nerves in their reply,closing at an unimpressive 68 for 2 at stumps on Day II.

The Delhi boys,who went into this match expecting to dominate a side that had so far exhibited listless cricket this season,now need another 454 runs to grab the lead and they have eight wickets in hand.

To be more realistic,they need another 304 runs to avoid follow-on,which looks like quite a challenge for the under-pressure Delhi batsmen,considering the sharpness with which Bengal pacer Ranadeb Bose (2 for 20) is bowling in this innings.

Yet again,the Delhi camp can do nothing much but lament the unchecked flow of runs from Sourav Ganguly’s bat,who added 42 valuable runs to his ton (110 overnight) to finish on 152. By the time Ganguly and Wriddhiman Saha (120) were done away with — Pradeep Sangwan (4 for 113) removed both — the duo had posted 249 runs for the fifth wicket in a partnership that could become the turning point of the match.

As if that wasn’t enough,Bengal skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla (132) joined the party,combining with speedster Ashok Dinda (41) down the order to put on 129 runs for the eighth wicket. Making the most of a track merciless on bowlers,the mercurial allrounder carted the bowlers around with some lusty,clean hits and brought up his century in quick time.

Even more infuriating for Ishant Sharma & Co was Dinda’s maverick 41,studded with chancy,and largely mindless but fortunate strokes.

That the Delhi batsmen would show signs of crumbling under pressure was evident by the way the two openers departed. Both relatively fresh faces,Ankur Julka (1) and Rahul Yadav (7) were snapped up by the experienced Bose against the fading light. After two wayward overs,Bose got both to snick behind the wicket to an alert Saha. Aditya Jain (34 batting) and Mithun Manhas (24 batting) stemmed the rot for the time being. But Delhi’s next big hurdle will be the third day’s morning — surviving the Bose-Dinda duo.

No wonder Bengal skipper Shukla is already smelling blood. “Look,if the pitch behaves the way we expect it should do,our spinners then will be the key to winning this match for us. But before that,the first hour tomorrow will be really crucial,” the day’s top scorer pointed out.

BRIEF SCORE: Bengal 522 (Sourav Ganguly 152,Laxmi Ratan Shukla 132,Wriddhiman Saha 120; Pradeep Sangwan 4/113,Parwinder Awana 3/105) v Delhi 68/2 (Aditya Jain batting 34,Mithun Manhas batting 24; Ranadeb Bose 2/20). Match to continue.