By IANS,
New Delhi: A gritty half-century by Geetimoy Basu and a patient knock from captain Manoj Tiwary could not rescue Bengal from getting bowled out for 201 in their first innings against Railways on the first day of their do-or-die Ranji Trophy Super League match here Wednesday.
Even the presence of former India captain Sourav Ganguly (13) couldn’t save the day for Bengal as the southpaw looked completely uncomfortable against young legspinner Karan Sharma and was finally played down by medium pacer Anureet Singh, who had turned out for Kolkata Knight Riders in the second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Opting to bat first on a turning track at the Karnail Singh Stadium, Bengal openers Basu (58), who was flown in late Tuesday night as a replacement for injured wicketkeeper-batsman Sreevats Goswami, and Arindam Das (21) made a cautious start.
Geetimoy, playing his second first-class match, used his feet well against left-arm spinner Murali Kartik, a veteran, and leggie Karan Sharma.
Kartik struck in the 13th over to remove Das, caught by Anureet Singh and in the 30th over, captain Sanjay Bangar got rid of Dibyendu Chakraborty, who took 49 balls to score eight runs.
Basu and Tiwary (42) tried to repair the innings with some crispy shots as Bengal took lunch at 92 for two. Basu departed shortly after the break and the 36-run stand with his skipper came to an end after Sharma trapped the opening batsman leg before wicket.
Ganguly, playing a first-class match after nearly 12 months, had problems adjusting to the sharp turn extracted by Kartik and Sharma. Ganguly’s 30-ball stay came to an end after he edged Anureet’s delivery that kept low onto his stumps.
Anureet ended with figures of three for 48 while Kartik and mediumpacer J.P. Yadav picked up two wickets each.