Openers crack tons,Gujarat eye three points

Parthiv Patel and Priyank Panchal punished a pedestrian Bengal attack as they kept Gujarat firmly in hunt for a first-innings lead and three points after the third day's play of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match at the Eden Gardens on Saturday.

Parthiv Patel and Priyank Panchal punished a pedestrian Bengal attack as they kept Gujarat firmly in hunt for a first-innings lead and three points after the third day’s play of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match at the Eden Gardens on Saturday.

Patel made 143 (202 balls,18X4) while Panchal was a little more watchful,taking 269 balls for his 139. Together they added 284 runs for the first wicket as the visitors,resuming on overnight 10 for no loss,finished the day at 315/2,in reply to 560/6 declared. Gujarat’s chances of overhauling Bengal’s total will depend on how they play the second new ball which is just one over old,although the wicket still looks good to bat on.

Interestingly,even after scoring a ton,Patel took a dig at the lifeless track. Honestly,when I first saw the wicket,I never thought that it would turn out to be so lifeless. I personally would like wickets to be more sporting in domestic cricket than what they are, said the Gujarat captain,who toyed with the Bengal bowling for 310 minutes.

The way he played Ranadeb Bose,Bengal’s experienced new-ball bowler,it seemed as if he was milking a spinner. But at the end of the day,Patel wasn’t happy with the way he got out.

Off-spinner Sourashis Larihi made the breakthrough,70th over into the Gujarat innings,when Patel cut uppishly to be caught by Parthasarathi Bhattacharya at cover. Panchal departed 19 runs later but by then they had laid a very solid foundation.

I should have continued a bit longer. I was opening the innings after keeping wickets for two days. But fatigue was not a reason for me getting out. Actually the ball stopped a bit, Patel said.

Bengal wasted the first new ball,with Bose being all over the place and Ashok Dinda bowling short. The spinners also couldn’t make a mark. The urgency was lacking. Even better fielders like Manoj Tiwary misfielded on a couple of occasions. At stumps,Rikin Chauhan was not out on 12,with experienced Niraj Patel giving him company on 6.

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Brief scores: Bengal first innings 560/6 decl in 172 overs vs Gujarat first innings 305/2 in 96 overs (P Patel 143,P Panchal 139,S Lahiri 1/74)

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