Kalyani puts Bengal on top

Bengal managed to get the vital first innings lead in their Ranji Trophy Super League encounter against Delhi at the Eden Gardens on Friday. On a day when overnight rain curtailed play by 104 minutes, Bengal, riding on a solid 90 from Srikant Kalyani and useful contributions from the middle order, declared at 374 for eight wickets, 44 minutes after tea. Delhi were 30 for no loss when play was called off. They need another 104 runs to avoid an innings defeat.

Bengal's strategy was quite simple on Friday. While Kalyani was to hold one end up, the others could go for runs from the other. That is exactly the way Saba Karim, Utpal Chatterjee, Wrichik Mazumdar and Laxmi Ratan Shukla played. Karim blazed his way to 46 before hitting a full toss from off spinner Virendra Shewag to cover. However, Bengal had already managed to take the lead before his dismissal. He had added 70 runs with Kalyani for the fifth wicket.

In walked Utpal Chatterjee and from the start, he was severe on his counterpart Rahul Sanghvi in the Delhi side. Utpal got 24 in 35 balls hitting Sanghvi for a six and a four in one over. Then Mazumdar got 34 in 46 balls. He hit Nikhil Chopra for a lovely six over long on and added 59 runs for the seventh wicket in 58 minutes. Shukla who came in next also was very aggresive against the second new ball taken after 95 overs. He hit Sanjay Gill over midwicket for a huge six before the innings was declared after Kalyani's dismissal.

The former Maharashtra Ranji Trophy captain, who has settled down in Bengal, once more showed why he is technically considered a very sound batsman. He rotated the strike beautifully and despatched the loose deliveries for boundaries. His 200 ball innings with six boundaries did not really have any flaws. He perished simply because the skipper asked him to go for runs. He tried to hit Gill out of the ground and ended in skying it to Akash Malhotra in the covers.

In the remaining 12 overs, Ashu Dani survived two confident leg before appeals of Ganguly. Also, Akash Chopra was dropped by Kalyani at silly point of Chatterjee. The fate of this match now is in the hands of the three Bengal spinners Chatterjee, Mazumdar and Sourashis Lahiri.