Ranji Trophy: 15 wickets fall on Day 2 as Bengal lead Odisha by 308 runs

Dharamsala: Bengal maintained their stranglehold over Odisha by extending their lead to 308 runs during yet another day dominated by seam bowlers in a Ranji Trophy group A league encounter.

On a track where stroke-making has been difficult throughout, Railways may find a 300-plus target pretty difficult to chase down.

After 14 wickets fell on Day 1, the second day saw 15 wickets falling with Railways being skittled out for 105 in their first innings conceding exactly 100-run lead.

Ashok Dinda scalped 5 for 45 in 14 overs which is now his 19th five-wicket haul in first-class cricket. Amit Kuila and Sayan Ghosh picked up 2 and 3 wickets respectively.

Bengal in their second innings fared marginally better as they ended the proceedings at 208 for 9 with seamers Karan Thakur (3/39), Deepak Bansal (3/40) and Amit Mishra (2/62) sharing the bulk of the spoils.

For Bengal, almost all their top-order batsmen got a start but failed to convert on a track where no batsmen from either side felt settled.

Skipper Manoj Tiwary (48, 71 balls, 7x4) and Test specialist Wriddhiman Saha (44, 75 balls, 9x4) were the two players who looked most comfortable on a seaming track.

Abhimanyu Easwaran (25, 6x4), Sayan Sekhar Mondal (30) and Sudeep Chatterjee (20) got starts but failed to counter swing for a consistent period of time.

What helped Bengal was the 100-run cushion provided to them by another lion-hearted effort from Dinda.

Having scalped a couple yesterday, nightwatchman Anureet Singh (4) was trapped leg before. The dogged Shivakant Shukla (14) was the next to go as he nicked an away going delivery from Kuila into the hands of Wriddhiman Saha.

Dinda's 4th victim was Mahesh Rawat (9) caught at slips by Chatterjee as Railways were in trouble at 53 for 7.

Skipper Karn Sharma's 40 off 26 balls helped Railwaymen cross 100-run mark.

Dinda's fifth wicket came when he clean bowled Deepak Bansal.

If the pitch and conditions remain same, it will be a difficult chase for the Railways as survival is not the best policy on such a track.

Brief Scores: Bengal 205 and 208/9 (Manoj Tiwary 48. Wriddhiman Saha 44, Sayan Sekhar Mondal 30, Karan Thakur 3/39, Deepak Bansal 3/40)

Railways 105 all out (Karn Sharma 40, Ashok Dinda 5/45).