JOIN USLeft-arm seamer Samad Fallah exposed the poor technique of Bengal’s batsmen with some incisive swing bowling to put Maharashtra in the driver’s seat on the first day of their Ranji Trophy semifinal here on Saturday.
Fallah wrecked havoc with the new ball claiming seven for 58 in 16.4 overs as Bengal were shot out for a paltry 114 in 41.4 overs. In reply, Maharashtra reached 164 for four at stumps taking their first innings lead to 50.
While the Bengal team management did their homework about the trio of Harshad Khadiwale (28), Vijay Zol (1) and Kedar Jadhav (40), coach Ashoke Malhotra and his side had no planning for Maharashtra’s military medium trundlers led by Fallah, who had decimated a heavyweight Mumbai batting line-up for only 129.
Score Board
BENGAL (I Innings):
Koushik Ghosh c Jadhav b Fallah 1;
Arindam Das b Fallah 37;
Abhimanyu Easwaran lbw Fallah 11;
Sudip Chatterjee lbw Fallah 0;
Wriddhiman Saha c Motwani b Khadiwale 29;
Laxmi Ratan Shukla c Jadhav b Fallah 14;
Sandipan Das b Joseph 2;
Sourashish Lahiri b Sanklecha 4;
Sourav Sarkar c Darekar b Fallah 8;
Ashok Dinda (not out) 0;
Shib Shankar Paul b Fallah 0;
Extras (LB-2, NB-1, P-5) 8; Total (all out, 41.4 overs) 114
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-21, 3-21, 4-65, 5-83, 6-94, 7-102, 8-110, 9-114.
Bowling: Fallah 16.4-3-58-7, Sanklecha 12-5-21-1, Joseph 10-4-18-1, Khadiwale 3-0-10-1.
MAHARASHTRA (I Innings):
Harshad Khadiwale b Shukla 28;
Chirag Khurana c Saha b Dinda 48;
Vijay Zol lbw Shukla 1;
Kedar Jadhav c&b Dinda 40;
Ankit Bawne (batting) 37;
Rohit Motwani (batting) 8;
Extras (NB-2) 2; Total (4 wickets; 44 overs) 164
Fall of wickets: 1-78, 2-78, 3-91, 4-141.
Bowling: Dinda 12-4-45-2, Sarkar 10-2-44-0, Shukla 12-1-45-2, Paul 9-4-23-0, Lahiri 1-0-7-0.