An unbeaten 167-run partnership between Anustup Majumdar (136 n.o) and Shahbaz Ahmed (82 n.o) put Bengal in a relatively strong position against Odisha in the opening day of their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal at Cuttack on Thursday. The hosts had opted to field and it seemed like the correct call 90 minutes into the day’s play.
Bengal’s batsmen did not know what hit them as they walked back to the pavillion in haste. At 5/46 after 16.2 overs, Odisha may have sensed an opportunity to get into the lower middle-order but Majumdar, Shreevats Goswami (34) and Ahmed had other ideas. After Goswami and Majumdar steadied the ship before lunch with a 95-run partnership, the latter and Ahmed assumed control. For the hosts, all four frontline bowlers chipped in with the wickets.
Brief scores (Day 1): In Ongole: Saurashtra 226/6 (Jadeja 73, Jani 53 n.o, Jackson 50; Raj 3/51) vs Andhra. In Cuttack: Bengal 308/6 (Majumdar 136 n.o, Ahmed 82 n.o; Suryakant 2/96, Chohan 2/52) vs Odisha. In Jammu: Karnataka 14/2 vs Jammu and Kashmir (Only six overs were possible due to bad light). In Valsad: Gujarat 330/4 (Gohel 52, Merai 84, Parthiv 118 n.o; Amit 2/73) vs Goa.