KOLKATA:
Shahbaz Ahmed
had claimed a hat-trick in Bengal's previous Ranji Trophy Elite group 'A' match against Hyderabad in Kalyani.
The left-arm spinner stands on the brink of an encore as he dismissed Kshitiz Sharma and
Simarjeet Singh
with what turned out to be the last two deliveries of the second day to bring Bengal back into the game at Eden Gardens after Delhi seemed to have the upper hand for most of Tuesday.
Delhi began the day well by restricting Bengal to 318, picking up their last five wickets within the first hour. Then a 60-run third-wicket stand between
Nitish Rana and Dhruv Shorey saw them take control with both batsmen playing some good cricket.
But they lost four wickets for 57 runs in the day's final session to hand the advantage back to the home side. Pacer
Mukesh Kumar produced a beauty in the fifth over after tea, forcing Rana - the hero of Delhi's last match - to edge to wicketkeeper
Shreevats Goswami. Mukesh then had skipper Shorey caught behind as well.
No. 3 Shorey, who walked in after the dismissal of Kunal Chandela in the sixth over, was quickly into his stride as he stroked five boundaries to be unbeaten on 23 at lunch. The right-hander continued in the same vein after the break, finding the gaps almost at will and scoring most of his runs through the cover and midwicket region.
Rana, too, was middling the ball well as the runs flowed. But things changed once these two departed in quick succession.
Bengal debutant Nilkantha Das castled openers Kunal Chandela (9) and Hiten Dalal (40) with incoming deliveries.
Late in the day, Shahbaz had Kshitiz caught by
Anustup Majumdar at first slip when the right-hander failed to negotiate one that bounced a little more than he expected. Nightwatchman Simarjeet perished next ball as youngster Kazi Junaid Saifi took a magnificent catch at forward short leg on second attempt as an inside edge flew off the pad.
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