KOLKATA: Nagaland must be glad to bat out the entire truncated Day I of their Elite Group ‘A’ Ranji Tropy match against Bengal finishing with 166 for nine at the Nagaland Cricket Stadium in Sovima on the outskirts of Dimapur on Tuesday. Aiming to get maximum points against a relatively weak rival, Bengal skipper Manoj Tiwary would have loved to take the reins of the match in his hands on the opening day itself, but Chetan Bist stood tall after Bengal bowlers did make early inroads.
The hosts, electing to bat first on winning the toss, were reduced to 55 for four by lunch in the 17 overs of play that was possible in the first session after a delayed start due to overnight rain. Wicketkeeper-batter Bist brought all his experience into play to keep the Bengal bowlers at bay as he built up two meaningful partnerships with Imliwati Lemtur (25) and Nagaho Chishi (14). The Lemtur-Bist duo put up 47 runs for seventh-wicket while the eight-wicket stand between Bist and Chishi gathered 29 runs.
Bengal’s ploy to play an extra spinner in Pradipta Pramanik bore fruits as the left-arm spinner, coming in place of for India U-19 pacer Ravikanth Singh and playing his first Ranji match this season, did the maximum damage picking up his maiden five-wicket haul in an innings finishing with five for 43 in his 24 overs. However, none of the other bowlers proved productive with only pacer Ishan Porel and all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed claiming one wicket each.
Pramanik was instrumental in finally ending Bist’s heroics by having him clean bowled after the tea break. The former Rajasthan player perished for a well-made 64 playing 154 balls and hitting five boundaries. Play was called off soon after due to bad light after only 62 overs of play were possible.
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