Gopal ton drives Karnataka to 408 against Bengal

Riding on lower-order batsman Shreyas Gopal's maiden first class century, defending champions Karnataka posted 408 in the first innings as Bengal were left facing a huge trail on day two of the Group A Ranji Trophy cricket match, here today.

Coming to bat at number nine in the four-day encounter at Eden Gardens, Gopal struck a fluent 145 off 197 balls (19x4, 1x6) and combined with Sreenath Aravind (29 not out) to register a record 148-run 10th-wicket partnership for Karnataka.

In reply, Bengal had a terribly slow start before ending the day at 62 for one, still needing a huge 347 runs to ensure three points.

Starting the day on 237 for seven, Karnataka never gave the Bengal bowlers a breather after play resumed post a 45-minute stoppage due to bad light in the morning.

Dinda (7/87) began impressively dismissing Vinay Kumar without any addition to his overnight 42 in the first over of the day en route to his 16th five-wicket haul but their momentum was broken after bad-light halted play.

By the time the play resumed the wicket had eased out and it was all about the grit and application shown by the Shreyas-Arvind duo.

Their intention was pretty clear and they dominated the proceedings going into lunch at 350 for nine with Shreyas five runs shy of the three-figure mark.

Shreyas, who bats in the middle-order in the age-group cricket, never lost his composure and celebrated his maiden first-class century off Veer Pratap Singh, who bagged three wickets.

Having completed his century, the 21-year-old Karnataka hit Veer Pratap for a six as Bengal bowlers had a tough time to break the partnership.

It was Dinda, who finally brought an end to the misery by dismissing Shreyas after he took an edge behind the stumps while going for a backfoot punch to be dismissed five runs short of 150.