da bet7： Bengal virtually assured themselves of a place in the knock out stageof the Ranji Trophy at the Eden Gardens today
Staff and agencies04-Jan-2001Bengal virtually assured themselves of a place in the knock out stageof the Ranji Trophy at the Eden Gardens today. Rohan Gavaskar’s sixthRanji Trophy hundred and his 197-run partnership for the fifth wicketwith Deep Dasgupta took Bengal past the 600-mark for the first timethis season. The home team declared their innings closed at 608 forthe loss of five wickets half an hour after lunch. In reply, Biharwere 107 for three wickets at close.Bihar have been having a poor season and today they did not fare anybetter. The bowling lacked sting and the batting was devoid oftemperament. It will be very difficult for them to save the matchunless they really apply themselves. They however, started the daywell getting rid of the Bengal skipper Devang Gandhi after only 21balls had been bowled. India under-19 all-rounder Mihir Diwakar movedone away from Gandhi and the batsman snicked it to the keeper.Then it was the younger Gavaskar all the way. Playing with a lot ofassurance, Gavaskar stroked the ball to all parts of the field. Hedecided to stick to the basics and played some lovely drives withinthe ‘V’. A straight drive of Dhiraj Kumar was a treat to watch. DeepDasgupta, however, was a bit lucky. There were a number of times whenhe flashed hard and was lucky to see the ball going wide of thefielders behind the wicket. However, both scored at more than a run aminute against the insipid attack. Rohan reached his 100 in 227minutes, cutting Tariqur Rahman to the point boundary. Dasguptahowever was to be denied a century. When he was 89 (134 balls, 11×4)he flashed hard at Dheeraj Kumar only to be caught by Kunjan Sharan atpoint. Gavaskar however, remained unbeaten on 121 (257 m, 174 balls11x4) when the declaration was made.When Bihar batted, the Bengal bowling also lacked penetration.However, bad batting resulted in the loss of three wickets. SkipperRajiv Kumar symbolised this. With about 15 minutes left for thescheduled close, he tried to lift Utpal Chatterjee over mid on only tolob a simple catch to Gavaskar. Earlier, Shib Shankar Pal had givenBengal the breakthrough, dismissing Zeeshan Yaquin after the openershad put on 59. The batsmen played down the wrong line and his middlestump went cartwheeling.With the Trinamul Congress having called for a bandh tomorrow, therewere doubts as to whether the third day’s play would be possible.However, it was decided that the entire Bengal team would stay in ahotel close to the ground so that if necessary they could even walk into the stadium.