Shahbaz provides Bengal the edge vs HP

Kolkata: Bengal paid Himachal Pradesh back in their own coin but with a more telling impact as they took a firm hold on their Elite Group ‘A’ Ranji Trophy match at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday.
The script unfolded much like the way it did on Day I for Bengal. The Bengal bowlers struck hard to reduce Himachal to 84 for six at lunch after their first innings folded up on the second ball of the day at the overnight total of 310 with Anushtup Mjumder being trapped in front by Vaibhav Arora for 159.At the lunch interval on Day I, Bengal were in a much similar position at 88 for five.
While Majumder pulled the side out of the woods on Tuesday, it was all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed who gave Bengal the edge on Wednesday by destroying the Himachal innings capturing five for 32 in his 13 overs. It turned out to be a masterstroke from skipper Manoj Tiwary, who threw the new ball to Shahbaz and the left-arm spinner responded immediately and in splendid fashion, having Raghav Dhawan — centunion of HP’s last-match — caught by Koushik Ghosh in his third delivery.
Shahbaz continued to exploit the early moisture on the track striking at regular interval as some of the HP batters brought their own downfall by trying to go for some unnecessary shots.
The only person to put up some resistance was Prashant Chopra. The right-handed opener, who also got a century against Haryana in the last match, looked well-set to do an encore, but sadly ran out of partners. The 30-year-old batter carried his bat remaining undefeated on a well-made 71 that came off 149 balls and included eight boundaries. The domination of the Bengal bowlers was clear from the fact that the highest stand of the HP innings was only 35 runs in the seventh wicket as their innings lasted just 46.5 overs.
Bengal enjoyed a healthy lead of 269 runs finishing Day II at 89 for one after they did not impose the follow-on and instead thought of batting their rivals out.
Apart from Shahbaz, Ishan Porel (2-26), Akash Deep Deep (2-50) and Sayan Sekhar Mondal (1-4) were among the wickets on a day when Bengal bowlers stuck to a much better line and length than in their first match against Uttar Pradesh.
“It’s very satisfying for me,” the day’s hero Shahbaz said. “In spite of playing so much cricket at the Eden Gardens, I have never picked many wickets here. This is my first five-wicket haul here and I am thankful to Manoj (Tiwary) bhai for giving me the opportunity to bowl early,” he added.
SCOREBOARD
Bengal (1st innings; o/n 310/9): A Majumdar lbw V Arora 159, I Porel not out 6
Extras (b 11, lb 13, w 2): 26
Total (all out in 78.2 ovs): 310
Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-29, 3-29, 4-35, 5-44, 6-154, 7-188, 8-253, 9-260
Bowling: V Arora 15.2-2-40-2, S Sharma 19-2-69-5, R Dhawan 16-2-76-1, K Abhinay 16-6-49-1, M Dagar 11-1-38-1, A Vasisht 1-0-14-0
Himachal Pradesh (1st innings): R Dhawan c K Ghosh b Shahbaz 5, P Chopra not out 71, A Kalsi c A Porel b I Porel 1, A Kumar c A Das b Shahbaz 2, A Vasisht c SS Mondal b Shahbaz 5, R Dhawan b Akash Deep 1, P Thakur lbw SS Mondal 9, M Dagar c A Porel b I Porel 18, V Arora lbw Shahbaz 2, K Abhinay c K Ghosh b Shahbaz 1, S Sharma b Akash Deep 3
Extras (b 7, lb 1, nb 2, w 2): 12
Total (all out in 46.5 ovs): 130
Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-10, 3-14, 4-28, 5-38, 6-64, 7-99, 8-112, 9-120
Bowling: I Porel 12-3-26-2, Shahbaz 13-2-32-5, R Singh 6-2-10-0, Akash Deep 14.5-1-50-2, SS Mondal 1-0-4-1
Bengal (2nd innings): A Das lbw V Arora 35, K Ghosh batting 21, S Gharami batting 32
Extras (lb 1): 1
Total (For 1 wicket in 19 ovs) 89
Fall of wicket: 1-36
Bowling: V Arora 5-0-28-1, R Dhawan 6-1-24-0, S Sharma 4-0-19-0, A Vasisht 2-0-13-0, K Abhinay 2-0-4-0