Kalyani, Jan 13 (PTI) Former India white-ball player Manoj Tiwary and up-and-coming cricketer Sudip Gharami gave Bengal a hard-fought seven-wicket win against Baroda to climb to the top of Group A in the Ranji Trophy here on Friday.
The two batted with confidence to stitch together a century partnership at a time when the match seemed to be slipping away from their hands in the chase of a modest 177 for victory.
With three down for just 53 on day three, things looked dismal for Bengal but young Gharami (76 not out) and domestic stalwart Tiwary (60 not out) denied any more success to the Baroda bowlers as the pair batted for nearly 33 overs on Friday to finally achieve the target.
Their unbeaten 126-run partnership broke the back of Baroda bowlers, who were eyeing success on the fourth morning after their exploits on day three.
Gharami, playing in only his 12th first-class match, began from where he had left off on Thursday — 28 not out — to score his fourth half-century as he and his skipper set about repairing the damage done by Soyeb Sopariya and Babashafi Pathan on Thursday.
Both waited patiently and targeted only the loose balls as Bengal inched closer to the 177-run target.
The winning moment finally came off the last ball of the 61st over of Bengal’s innings.
Brief scores: At Kalyani: Baroda 269 and 98 lost to Bengal 191 and 179 for 3 in 61 overs (Sudip Kumar Gharami 78 not out, Manoj Tiwary 60 not out) by seven wickets. Bengal 6 points, Baroda 0.
At Nadaun: Odisha 191 and 374 lost to Himachal Pradesh 258 and 310 for 7 in 76.3 overs (Ankit Kalsi 165 not out, Rishi Dhawan 102; Basant Mohanty 3/40) by three wickets. HP 6 points, Odisha 0.
At Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh 142 drew with Uttarakhand 172 for 4 in 53.3 overs (Kunal Chandela 56, Swapnil Singh 50 not out.; Karthikeya Jaiswal 3/40). UP 1 point, Uttarakhand 3 points.
Source: PTI News