Ranji Trophy: Arindam Ghosh leads Railways fightback with patient 88

New Delhi: Former Bengal batsman Arindam Ghosh played a resilient unbeaten knock of 88 against his home state to lead Railways to a decent 210 for four on the first day of their Ranji Trophy group B match, here today.

Ghosh batted for nearly five hours as he steadied the Railway innings with a fourth-wicket partnership of 122 runs with Nitin Bhille (65) at the Jamia Millia Islamia Sports Complex Stadium. This was after Bengal pacers Ashoke Dinda (2/63) and Shib Shankar Paul (2/30) had rocked the top order, reducing Railways to 31 for three. Poor fielding also hampered Bengal`s chances as three catches were dropped -- two by reserve keeper Gitimoy basu and one by Sandipan Das. Dinda was the unlucky bowler on two occasions while Saurashis Lahiri was unlucky on the other. Dinda removed Shivakant Shukla for nought when he edged at an away going delivery that was pouched by Gitimoy. Karn Sharma (3) then got one to nip back in and was judged leg before by umpire off Dinda`s bowling. Paul then removed Harshad Rawle (7), trapping him leg before to make it 31 for three. After that, for 53 overs Bengal didn`t get any success. Ghosh who had a measure of Bengal bowling hit shots all around the wicket. He cover drove, pulled, square drove and also ran brilliantly between the wickets. Ghosh has hit 10 fours in his 220 ball knock. Bhille on the other hand was content playing second fiddle during his 207 ball knock that had seven boundaries. Bhille was dropped once by Gitimoy off Saurashis`s bowling. However Paul coming back in the post tea session bowled a beauty which moved away late removing the off-bail. Mahesh Rawat (44 batting) then came in and smashed Bengal bowlers. He was dropped by Sandipan at point when he was on 16. Ghosh didn`t take too many chances in the last hour as an edge during the fag end off Dinda`s bowling was dropped by Gitimoy. "A good team should take these catches which change the complexion of the game. Having said that full credit to Arindam and Bhille for playing well. The pitch also eased out by then," skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla said. Brief scores: Railways 1st innings: 210 for 4 in 90 overs. (Arindam Ghosh 88 batting, Nitin Bhille 65, SS Paul 2/30, Ashoke Dinda 2/63).