Majumdar leads Bengal recovery with unbeaten 94 vs Delhi

Anustup Majumdar hit a unbeaten 94 under pressure to help Bengal reach 286 for five on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match against Delhi here on Monday.

Majumdar, who looked in formidable form, had some anxious moments as he survived a run-out chance to remain unbeaten, alongside Shahbaz Ahmed (39 not out) at the end of day one.

The home team turned the game around in the second session as Majumdar found a fine ally in wicketkeeper-batsman Shreevats Goswami (59).

Scoring above four runs per over, the duo stitched a 117-run fifth wicket stand to give Bengal the edge.

"The ball was doing everything in the first session. it was turning, bouncing... It was a different game after lunch. They had a big bonus but the bowlers did not do justice to the toss," Bengal coach Arun Lal said.

Put in to bat, Bengal's top three batsmen, including last match's triple centurion, Manoj Tiwary (7), got out inside lunch but senior batsman Majumdar led the recovery and put Delhi in the back foot in the next two sessions.

Brought in the seventh over, Simarjeet Singh gave the breakthrough in his third ball with Abhishek Raman (9) edging one behind following a sloppy display, before left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra (3/78) gave a twin blow including that of Tiwary.

Stepping out, the stand-in skipper Tiwary was deceived by the flight and turn as Bengal looked in real trouble at 72/3.

For Majumdar, who was dropped for first three matches this season, the situation was similar to that of their match against Hyderabad in the previous round when they were 60/3.

"As a middle-order batsman, you are familiar with such a scenario. The ball was seaming around but we lost some wickets cheaply. It was about seeing through it. It's good to have contributed and took the team up," Majumdar said.

Majumdar, who had made his debut ahead of Tiwary in the 2004-05 season, is now eyeing his first century since 2017-18.

"We will have to start from the scratch. We will have to see the new ball through. The right approach will be the key," added Majumdar, who is six runs shy of a century.

Lavishing praise on Majumdar, Lal said: "He's probably the most talented batsman in the team. He plays late, there's a lot of grace in his batting. He showed a lot of character otherwise we would have been 170 all out today."
Brief Scores:
At Hyderabad: Hyderabad 171 all out in 56 overs (Kolla Sumanth 51; Rituraj Singh 3/30) vs Rajasthan 2/0 in 4 overs (Yash Kothari 2; Chama Milind 0/0)