Bengal vs Kerala Ranji Trophy
Bengal defeated Kerala by 287 runs to register their third consecutive win in the ongoing Ranji Trophy campaign. Despite taking a 209-run first-innings lead, Bengal did not enforce the follow-on and set Kerala a target of 408 after scoring 198 in their second innings.
Bengal scored over 350 runs in the first innings, while Kerala were bowled out for 141. Shahbaz Ahmed made 121 off 203 balls, while Ankur Pal scored 66 off 80 balls and Sumanta Gupta contributed 49 off 95 balls. Pradipta Pramanik took four wickets for 44 runs in 16.3 overs, and Mohammed Shami claimed three wickets.
After the third day’s play, Bengal coach Laxmiratan Shukla explained the decision to bat again. He said the intense heat and heavy humidity had left the bowlers tired. “We had the opportunity to enforce the follow-on. But keeping the intense heat in mind, we decided to bat ourselves. Along with the heat, the humidity here is also very high. The bowlers were getting tired,” Shukla said.
According to the coach, the ball was not turning a great deal on the pitch. However, he added that batting in the fourth innings is always risky.
Bengal’s second innings ended at 198, with captain Abhimanyu Easwaran top-scoring with 47. Shahbaz Ahmed made 20, while Ankur Pal and Sumanta Gupta scored 12 and 6 respectively. Kerala were then set a target of 408 runs.
Kerala had lost four wickets for 53 runs by the end of the third day. They added 67 runs on the fourth day before losing their remaining six wickets. Pradipta Pramanik finished with six wickets for 51 runs in the match and took 10 wickets across the two innings. Mohammed Shami and Shahbaz Ahmed took two wickets each in the second innings. Bengal’s third consecutive win has earned them 6 points.
© Copyright 2026, cloudTV. All Rights Reserved
