KOLKATA: Abhimanyu Easwaran hit an unbeaten double ton as Bengal smelt an outright victory in their last Elite Group 'B' Ranji Trophy encounter against Bihar at the Eden Gardens on Saturday.
Bihar were struggling to save the match finishing Day II at 32 for one in their second essay, still needing 285 runs to make Bengal bat again. The hosts earlier declared their first innings at 411 for five after the tea break.
The day, however, belonged to Easwaran, who continued to pile misery on Bihar playing his shots all around the park. After back-to-back half-centuries against Kerala in the last match, the Bengal opener was at his punishing best against a mediocre attack. The India 'A' player got to his three-figure mark before the lunch break as Bihar got their only breakthrough of the first session when Ashutosh Aman had overnight batter Anushtup Majumder trapped in front for 39.
However, the stage was set for a grand farewell for Manoj Tiwary playing his last game for Bengal. The former India international began well too and looked set for a big score. But the middle-order batter was unlucky to be given lbw when he stepped out to play left-arm spinner Aman almost halfway down the wicket.
While the Bihar camp came out to greet the Bengal skipper when he went out to bat, it was his teammates who lined up outside the boundary line as an era came to an end when Tiwary walked back after playing Ranji Trophy for 20 long years.
Easwaran and Abhishek Porel were next involved in a 94-run fifth-wicket stand that dominated the opposition attack before Porel was run out for 56 after facing 54 balls and hitting nine boundaries and one six.
Easwaran survived two lives - once when he was dropped at short mid-wicket off Yaspal Yadav on 152 and then was caught behind off a no-ball when the batter was on 185. The Bengal camp was waiting for the right-handed batter to get to 200 and the moment he reached the mark, skipper Tiwary declared the innings. Easwaran, who hit 23 boundaries during his 239-ball stay in the middle, crossed 7000 runs in first-class cricket in the process.
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