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Pradeep Dadhe leads Maharashtra charge as group leaders Bengal slump to 72 for 7 at Eden
Put in to bat at Eden Gardens on Monday morning, the unbeaten Ranji Trophy table-toppers lost seven wickets inside 22 overs, with captain Abhimanyu Easwaran among the first to go.
Key points
- Bengal were 72 for 7 after 22 overs on the first morning against Maharashtra.
- Seamer Pradeep Dadhe took three wickets for 18 runs in eight overs, four of them maidens.
- Bengal, top of their group with three straight outright wins, still had Abishek Porel at the crease.
Bengal, the unbeaten leaders of their group, lost seven wickets inside 22 overs on the first morning of their Ranji Trophy match against Maharashtra at Eden Gardens on Monday. They were 72 for 7, with Abishek Porel holding the innings together on 23.
Maharashtra captain Prithvi Shaw won the toss and chose to bowl, and his seamers made it look the right call almost at once. Rajvardhan Hangargekar removed Bengal captain Abhimanyu Easwaran for 10 in the fourth over, caught by Sachin Dhas, with the score on 12.
Pradeep Dadhe then struck twice in three balls. Ankur Paul edged to Hitesh Walunj for 1, and Suraj Jaiswal went for a two-ball duck, again caught by Dhas, leaving Bengal 18 for 3 after five overs.
Sudip Kumar Gharami and Sudip Chatterjee steadied things briefly, but Chatterjee fell at 37 in the 12th over. Gharami followed for 15 at 54, and Shahbaz Ahmed lasted only until 59. When Dadhe had Sumanta Gupta caught by Dhas for 7, it was his third wicket, and his figures read 8 overs, 4 maidens, 3 for 18. Hangargekar and Tanay Sanghvi had two wickets each.
It is a sharp turn for Bengal. They came into the round top of their group with 18 points, having beaten Delhi, Services and Kerala outright. Maharashtra had one win and two draws from their first three games.
Porel, who hit a boundary off Hangargekar in the 21st over, was left with Pradipta Pramanik for company. Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Kaif are still to bat. The four-day match runs until Thursday.