Bengal settle for one point after another rain-hit Eden tie

Weather once again played spoilsport for Bengal at Eden Gardens as the home side had to settle for one point against Delhi in their rain-hit Ranji Trophy group A clash here on Thursday.

Bengal needed three wickets, while for Delhi, who were overnight 217/7, had a stiff task to score 101 runs to secure three points.

But rain and bad light had the final say as only six overs were possible in two intervals on the final day.

Jonty Sidhu, who was overnight 49 after surviving an lbw on Mukesh Kumar's no-ball, completed his half-century and was 53 not out, while Subodh Bhati was unbeaten on 26 when the play was stopped because of bad light after Bengal took the new-ball in the 82nd over.

Heavy rains followed, leaving the outfield wet as the groundsmen tried their best to resume play in the final session but the umpires deemed it unfit and the match was called off at 3.27pm with Delhi 242/7.

Both teams thus settled for one point each but the drop in points for Bengal (20 from six matches) in their final home match would be a big blow to their qualification hopes.

Delhi have 17 points from six matches.

The third day's action on Wednesday was also hit by rain and bad light with only 9.3 overs of action possible. All of Bengal's three matches at the Eden Gardens turned out to be jinxed.

In their two previous matches here, Bengal had the advantage against Andhra and Gujarat but both of them were hit by rains to settle for three points each.

Bengal, thereafter, chose to shift base to Kalyani as their home venue against Hyderabad where they secured a bonus-point victory.

With television coverage, Bengal were forced to return to the Eden but the weather God once again came to haunt the home side.

"We definitely missed to get three points. We were in a strong position. Now we have to win both our next matches to qualify. we will try our best," Manoj Tiwary, who stood in as captain in the absence of Abhimanyu Easwaran, said.

"Both matches at Eden Gardens resulted in similar fashions. It's all past. We have to look ahead."
"Mukesh no-ball cost us three points. It happened thrice this season -- Ashok Dinda (against Tamil Nadu in Vijay Hazare), B Amit (against Andhra in Ranji). It cost us a lot. Hopefully we will be more disciplined in future."
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