Ranji Trophy: Murali Kartik stumps Bengal by opening

Kartik’s methods were not complicated. He drove everything that was in the driving range – not necessarily within the ‘V’ – and when he slashed, he gave it a real crack to ensure that even top edges fly over slips to the boundary. He was particularly severe on Sourashis Lahiri, the off-spinner who could have been Bengal’s trump card in the fourth innings. Lahiri was welcomed with a straight six over sight screen and then another one went over long-off. The Bengal offie took 10 wickets — seven in the second innings — in the last match against Tamil Nadu, but today he bowled just five overs and gave away 27 runs .

Railways still have a long way to go but changing Kartik’s batting position was a tactical master-stroke. Kartik’s contribution has put the match on a knife edge. Railways need another 154 runs to win with seven wickets in hand.
Railways medium-pacer Anureet Singh’s efforts, too, have to be acknowledged. He bowled 25.4 overs and took five wickets for 72 runs. The 25-year-old now has 44 wickets in eight matches this season, which has put him at No.2 in the list of highest wicket-takers. Rishi Dhawan tops the chart with 49 wickets.

When Bengal started the day on the overnight score of 133 for four, they had a slight advantage with both Shukla and Wriddhiman Saha batting well. Railways, however, pulled it back by removing the Bengal skipper who, after hitting a couple of fours in a Krishnakant Upadhyay over, pulled a short ball straight to Nitin Bhille at mid-wicket. The hosts lost their top half with 150 runs on the board and once again it was up to Saha to take the team to safety.

The wicketkeeper-batsman played with caution but on 81 (200 balls), he lost his concentration momentarily and tried to slog a pitched-up delivery from leg-spinner Karn Sharma and was out bowled. Bengal were 214 for seven and still not safe. Ashok Dinda (27 not out off 24 balls) used the long handle effectively to take the total to 267. The visitors finished the day on 117 for three.

Brief scores: Bengal 317 & 267 (L Shukla 76, W Saha 81; A Singh 5/72, K Upadhyay 2/62, K Sharma 2/45) vs Railways 314 & 117/3 (M Kartik 56, A Paunikar 41; L Shukla 1/17)