Tiwary, Shahbaz floor Punjab as Bengal lead by 186 runs on Day 2

PATIALA: Manoj Tiwary once again proved the difference for Bengal as the experienced campaigner scored an assured half-century to steer his team to safety on the second day of their Ranji Trophy match against Punjab at Dhruv Pandove Stadium on Thursday.
Both the teams are locked in an intense battle and the winner on Day 3 will march into the quarterfinals. Bengal ended the day on 199 for 9, leading by 186 runs.
Tiwary (65), who scored an unbeaten 73 in the first innings made a cautious start and put on a crucial 107-run partnership with Arnav Nandi (51), when Bengal was reeling at 21 for 3 in their second innings.Tiwary offered both calm and confidence to the Bengal innings as he produced another master class on a turning track. He struck seven boundaries during his stay and the way he neutralised left-arm spinner Vinay Chaudhary was a treat to watch.
By his own admission, it was the most difficult wicket on which he had batted in this season.
"We got two spinning tracks this season. One against Kerala and then this. For me it was a challenge to bat on. Some balls were keeping low, some were going straight. At one end, spinners were getting sharp turn, while at the other, there was nothing happening."
"The partnership with Nandi was very crucial and I think it brought us back into the game. I think we have an upper hand and it is not going to be easy for them in the fourth innings but we still have to bowl them out. Field placements and close catching will be very crucial for us," said Manoj, who has scored 641 runs in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season. The 34-year-old batsman is the leading run getter for Bengal. The next best batsman is Abhishek Raman with 337 runs.
Arnab too played a good hand before being caught napping by a sharp bouncer from Siddharth Kaul. Nandi looked good during the course of his knock but mistimed his pull shot and was caught by substitute Arush Sabharwal, who took a skier at the square leg boundary.
Srivats Goswami (24) and Anustup Majumdar (26) added 37 runs for the seventh wicket.
For Punjab, rookie off-spinner Krishan Alang, who is playing his second Ranji Trophy match, returned with figures of 5 for 53, including the prized wicket of Manoj Tiwary. It was also the first five-wicket haul for Alang. He was ably-supported by Siddharth Kaul (2/37) and Vinay Chaudhary (2/89).
However, the woeful run of Bengal's skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran (4) continued as he was clean bowled by Siddharth Kaul.
Bengal coach Arun Lal defended his captain. He said: "Every player goes through a lean patch. Right now his confidence is definitely low but he has enough talent to come out of this phase."
Lal was extremely happy with the way Tiwary and Nandi batted but was miffed the way Shahbaz got out today. Not to forget Shahbaz has bagged a seven-fer in Punjab's first innings.
"Yes he got seven wickets, he bowled well. But he is a proper batsman and the way got out was quite unacceptable. It was the second time, when he has been out like this. He has scored a boundary of the last ball there was no need for playing that rash shot," said Lal. Shahbaz stepped out to hit Chaudhary out of the part but was deceived completely and got bowled.
Earlier, resuming at 93 for 3, Punjab collapsed to 125 for 9 before Anmol Malhotra's 44 dragged them to 151 and get a slender 13-run lead. Shahbaz Ahmed was the bowling star for Bengal, with splendid figures of 7 for 57.
In spite of their consistent batting collapse in the season, Punjab coach Munish Bali is pretty confident that they will chase down the stiff target.
"I think Manoj and Arnab batted superbly, credit to them and it was a big learning for our batters too. This is the way how you play on a spinning track. I think the batting collapse in the morning session has hurt us badly but I have confidence in my boys that they will pull it through," said Bali.
Scoreboard
Bengal 1st innings: Koushik Ghosh lbw Baltej Singh 7, AR Easwaran b Baltej Singh 0, Abhishek Kumar Raman c Ramandeep Singh b Krishan Alang 14, Arnab Nandi b Vinay Choudhary 11, Manoj Tiwary not out 73, Shreevats Goswami lbw Vinay Choudhary 19, Anustup Majumdar c Anmol Malhotra b Vinay Choudhary 0, Shahbaz lbw Vinay Choudhary 0, Writtick Bijoy Chatterjee c Anmol Malhotra b Baltej Singh 2, Akash Deep c Sharad Lumba b Vinay Choudhary 0, Ramesh Prasad c Rohan Marwaha b Vinay Choudhary 0
Extras: 12 (nb 1, b 4, lb 7)
Total: 138 all out in 49 overs
FOW: 1-8 (A R Easwaran, 3.5 ov) ,2-21 (Koushik Ghosh, 9.6 ov) ,3-29 (Abhishek Kumar Raman, 14.3 ov) ,4-57 (Arnab Nandi, 22.4 ov) ,5-104 (Shreevats Goswami, 38.1 ov) ,6-104 (Anustup Majumdar, 38.4 ov) ,7-104 (Shahbaz, 38.5 ov) ,8-119 (Writtick Bijoy Chatterjee, 41.2 ov) ,9-132 (Akash Deep , 46.6 ov) ,10-138 (Ramesh Prasad, 48.6 ov)
Bowling: Siddharth Kaul 11-4-25-0, Baltej Singh 13-6-16-3, Krishan Alang 8-0-32-1, Vinay Choudhary 17-3-54-6
Punjab 1st Innings: Rohan Marwaha c Abhishek Kumar Raman b Akash Deep 48, Abhijeet Garg b Shahbaz 14, Sharad Lumba c Abhishek Kumar Raman b Shahbaz 1, Mandeep Singh not out 29
Extras: 1 (nb 1)
Total: 93 for 3 in 38.2 overs
Bowling: Akash Deep 4.2-0-13-1, Ramesh Prasad 11-1-29-0, Shahbaz 11-2-28-2, Arnab Nandi 7-2-11-0, Writtick Bijoy Chatterjee 5-0-12-0