Saba Karim's century helps Bengal recover

Saba Karim's 19th Ranji Trophy hundred enabled Bengal to fight back after they had lost their top order cheaply against Karnataka at the Eden Gardens today. At close of play on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Super League Group A encounter Bengal were 281 for five wickets. Karim was unbeaten on 109 and skipper Utpal Chatterjee was batting on 16. On the way to his hundred, Karim became the fifth player from Bengal to score 5,000 runs in the Ranji Trophy when he reached 31.

The Bengal selectors should have a discussion with Nikhil Haldipur and Rohan Gavaskar. Both got out to rash shots today. Haldipur tried to glance a ball down the leg side and nicked it to wicket keeper Tilak Naidu off Dodda Ganesh. He showed dissent at the umpire's decision indicating that he had not edged the ball. The match was then only 5.3 overs old and he had been stroking the ball fluently.

Gavaskar who was well settled on 44, tried to steer a wide ball from Venkatesh Prasad and edged it to Arun Kumar at second slip. It was a ball he could have well left alone.

Bengal lost Haldipur and Gandhi when the score was only 38. Then they recovered through a third wicket partnership of 71 runs between Gavaskar and Alokendu Lahiri. However, the innings received respectability as Karim and Charanjit Singh took charge. Karim's innings was faultless. He drove on both sides of the wicket and more than half of his 17 boundaries came of the pull shot whenever spinners Sunil Joshi and debutant S Vadeyaraj dropped the ball short. He reached his hundred cutting Prasad to the point fence. He had batted 197 minutes and faced 106 balls.

Charanjit on the other hand played second fiddle in the 115 run partnership for the fifth wicket. However, after scoring 36 with four boundaries he failed to keep his cut down of Vadeyaraj and was caught by Arun Kumar at point. But he was lucky as Ganesh grassed a simple chance offered by him from the bowling of Joshi when he was only seven. After his dismissal, Chatterjee then added 57 runs for the unbroken sixth wicket with Karim. Even the second new ball taken after 82 overs failed to break this dour stand.