Bengal battle to take the lead

Not many are watching but the Ranji Trophy final is turning out to be a great advertisement of domestic cricket with Bengal and UP trying to outlast each other in a cliffhanger.

Not many are watching but the Ranji Trophy final is turning out to be a great advertisement of domestic cricket with Bengal and Uttar Pradesh trying to outlast each other in a cliffhanger on a dead wicket.

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The position for Bengal at stumps on Day 3, when bad light stopped play 18 overs before schedule, was reminiscent of their final Ranji match last season. On Tuesday, they were 39 short of securing what may turn out to be a crucial first innings lead with two wickets standing.

For encouragement, they will remember that Laxmi Ratan Shukla had helped them avoid relegation from a similar soup against Madhya Pradesh at Eden Gardens around the same time last year.

Here he was on 50, fighting the same battle for a different cause, with a bruised right index finger. That he didn't seek medical attention after being hit by Shalabh Srivsatava and did so during tea some half-an-hour later and didn't raise his bat after reaching 50 showed how focussed on the task he is.

Desperately missing a spinner, UP clawed back each time Bengal threatened to nose ahead and should believe they have an edge. That they got Piyush Chawla to leave the India under-19 camp for this match and that he did most of the bowling and damage showed how pivotal a role this leg-spinner is playing.

With the medium-pacers rendered ineffective on a pitch that offers no carry unless the ball is new, Chawla chugged on.

Sticking to a flat trajectory for most of the day, he showed great control to keep the batsmen on their toes. Coming from a breed of bowlers known to offer the odd loose one, Chawla was remarkably accurate.

These individual efforts apart, it was a day of some stern cricket with UP challenging Bengal in their own game - the waiting one.

Mohammad Kaif stood close in throughout, making numerous interceptions, and ensured that there were no easy runs. He kept talking to his bowlers and it seemed the discussions were about chalking out a line of attack with protection on the fence and maintaining it.

And though many believe cricket is a test of patience for batsmen, the UP bowlers showed a lot of this quality. Frustrating the batsmen for hours by bowling outside off, with the exception of AW Zaidi and Chawla, couldn't have been easy.

The only time Bengal looked like running away with the game was when Rohan Gavaskar accepted the short-ball challenge and kept piercing the field with a brief flurry of fours. His partner Shivsagar Singh was going slow but steady.

Chawla brought UP back with a peach of a delivery which pitched outside leg from around the wicket, spun across the face of Singh's forward defensive bat and hit the off stump. Gavaskar fell after three overs and Bengal felt he and a few others got bad decisions.

Though the verdict against Gavaskar couldn't be questioned from the press box, AV Jayaprakash's decision to rule a well set Manoj Tewari leg-before raised eyebrows.

The incoming ball pitched outside off, hit the pad which was well forward and outside the line. The question was whether Tewari had offered a shot, and it did seem he was trying to block.

Bengal should also rue some loose dismissals if they lose this. All their batsmen got starts, failed to carry on and while they needed two big partnerships, just two worth 50 or more - for the first and the seventh wickets - is what they managed.

Arindam Das fell soon after 50 for the fifth time this season and Deep Dasgupta paid for a moment of recklessness. The skipper was looking solid like every other batsman before slashing at a long hop outside off without trying to get close to it.

Talking about getting close to things, it will be a story of so near yet so far for either UP or Bengal. Both will be upset with themselves if they slip now. Both will still have to be complimented for producing this cracker of a match.

Scoreboard

Uttar Pradesh 1st innings: 387

Bengal 1st innings: (A Das c Amir Khan b Piyush Chawla 60, S Das b Srivastava 34, A Jhunjhunwala lbw b Piyush Chawla 22, S Singh b Piyush Chawla 23, R Gavaskar lbw b Kumar 49, M Tiwary lbw b Kumar 43, D Dasgupta c Amir Khan b Zaidi 20, L Shukla batting 50, S Lahiri c Shukla b Piyush Chawla 21, RR Bose batting 3; Extras -- b-4, lb-6, w-6, nb-8 -- 24)

Total (for 8 wkts, in 116 ovs) 349

Fall of wickets: 1-68, 2-102, 3-143, 4-186, 5-204, 6-252, 7-302, 8-331

Bowling: Zaidi 26-5-65-1, Kumar 31-5-123-2, Srivastava 28-4-80-1, Piyush Chawla 31-7-71-4.