The Day 2 of first semi-final of Ranji Trophy 2022 between Bengal and Madhya Pradesh witnessed a massive batting collapse and a game-changing partnership. After struggling at 54/5, Bengal recovered well on the back of sixth-wicket partnership between Bengal’s sports minister Manoj Tiwary and Shahbaz Ahmed.
Kartikeya’s double strike
Bengal got off to a horrible start in the first session. Left-arm chinaman bowler Kumar Kartikeya got two wickets in the first over. Opener Abhishek Raman and Sudip Kumar Gharami got out for respective three-ball ducks.
Half team down early
Anustup Majumdar fell to Saransh Jain in the fourth over as Bengal were reduced to 11/3 in the fourth over. Skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran edged one off first change bowler Puneet Datey. Two overs later, Abisek Porel fell to Datey as well leaving Bengal in massive trouble. Reduced to 54/5, veteran Tiwary and Shahbaz had a mammoth task ahead of them.
Rescue operation
The duo were able to stabilise the innings. Tiwary and Shahbaz remained unbeaten at the end of the day, reducing the trail to 144 runs. Tiwary scored 84 runs from 182 deliveries including nine fours. On the other hand, the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) all-rounder scored 72 runs from 149 deliveries including nine fours. The two batters shared an unbeaten 143-run partnership for the sixth wicket.
Mantri hits 150
Earlier, Madhya Pradesh added 70 runs to their overnight score. Wicketkeeper-batter Himanshu Mantri and Datey's partnership was broken by Shahbaz early in the day. Datey got out for a 37-ball 33. Mantri went on to score his 150 but could not bat with the tail. The opener scored 165 runs from 327 deliveries before losing his wicket to Mukesh Kumar. Mantri hit 19 fours and one six in his career-best knock.
No wagging tail
After Mantri's wicket, the tailenders could not do much. Shahbaz got rid of Kartikeya whereas no.11 batter Gaurav Yadav got out for a two-ball duck. Madhya Pradesh got all out in the first session of Day 2 and posted 341 in the first innings.
