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Player of the Match
Player of the Match

Five for Akash Deep as Bengal take huge lead

Akash Deep picked up a five-for Cricket Association of Bengal

Bengal 438 and 59 for 2 (Gharami 12*, Majumdar 9*) lead Madhya Pradesh 170 (Jain 65, Shubham 44*, Akash Deep 5 for 42) by 327 runs

They were thwarted by Madhya Pradesh in the semi-finals last year, but Bengal are on course for payback this time around, with a final appearance in the 2022-23 Ranji season almost theirs. Having opened up a 268-run lead courtesy a five-wicket haul by fast bowler Akash Deep, Bengal ended day three on 59 for 2 at the Holkar Stadium.

MP's hopes of clawing back hinged on getting as close to Bengal's first-innings score of 438, but a regular stream of wickets thwarted their progress. Three of their batting pillars - Rajat Patidar, Aditya Shrivastava and the returning Venkatesh Iyer - managed scores of 0, 7 and 7 respectively as MP slumped to 101 for 6.

Allrounder Saransh Jain, who was promoted up to No. 3 held fort to carve a fighting half-century, his third in first-class cricket, but lack of support from the rest of the batting group meant MP had conceded too much ground by the time their first innings ended. Shubham Sharma's unbeaten 44 at No. 8 was merely academic.

Akash, who has shouldered the responsibility of leading Bengal's attack in Mukesh Kumar's absence, ended up with his third five-for of the season to take his wickets tally to 36 in 15 innings at an average of 20.08. He was complemented by left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed, who finished with 2 for 30.

In their second dig, Bengal lost openers Karan Lal ans Abhimanyu Easwaran early, but will have Anustup Majumdar and Sudip Gharami, centurions from the first innings, resume in their quest to bat MP out of the match and seal their second Ranji final appearance in three seasons.

M. Pradesh 4th innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st33Y DubeyHS Mantri
2nd34SS SharmaY Dubey
3rd15SS SharmaRM Patidar
4th43RM PatidarVR Iyer
5th54AR ShrivastavaRM Patidar
6th22SS JainAR Shrivastava
7th3AR ShrivastavaK Kartikeya
8th0Avesh KhanK Kartikeya
9th13K KartikeyaAS Agarwal
10th24Gaurav YadavAS Agarwal

Ranji Trophy

Elite, Group A
TeamMWLDPT
BENG741232
UKHND730429
HP721421
BRODA721421
ODSA712414
UP712413
HRYNA712413
NAGA70522
Elite, Group B
TeamMWLDPT
AP742126
MAHA730426
SAU732226
MUM732224
TN721421
DELHI722317
ASSAM713311
HYD70611
Elite, Group C
TeamMWLDPT
KNTKA740335
JHK732223
KER731321
RAJ722320
CGR734019
GOA722318
SVCS724113
PONDI71519
Elite, Group D
TeamMWLDPT
MP751133
PNJB730427
RLYS732222
VIDAR732220
GUJ724114
TPURA702511
J + K71428
CHD70257
Plate Group
TeamMWLDPT
MEGHA541025
SIKM531120
MNPR531120
BIHAR511314
MIZO51318
ARP50500