Abhimanyu Slams 183 Not out as Bengal Chase Down Record 322 Vs Delhi

Kolkata, Jan 2 (PTI) Opener Abhimanyu Easwaran played the innings of his life with an unbeaten 183 as Bengal chased down a record 322 to record a seven-wicket win and virtually knock Delhi out of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group B here Wednesday.

Dismissed for 220 in less than 59 overs in the first session, Bengal had a mountain to climb on the final day. But the 23-year-old Abhimanyu, fresh from India A tour to New Zealand under Rahul Dravid, came off age in his composed innings which featured 23 boundaries and two sixes.

Supremely fit, Abhimanyu ran hard for his singles as he found perfect ally in senior teammate Anustup Majumdar who made a valuable 69 not out (8x4) as Bengal took just 70.2 overs to get across the line.

The duo put on 186 runs for the unbroken third wicket to script Bengal's biggest run chase in Ranji Trophy, bettering their 307-run chase against Karnataka here in 2006-07 season.

Wednesday's win kept Bengal's quarterfinal hopes alive as they now occupy seventh place in the combined Elite Group A and B with 22 points.

This also avenged Bengal's semifinal ouster in last season when they lost to Delhi by an innings and 26 runs in Pune.

They next face Punjab here from January 7-10 in a virtual knock-out game.

This was Abhimanyu's second century from three matches this season as he had smashed a career-best 186 against Hyderabad after returning from the India A tour.

Sharing the secret of his transformation, he said: "I was not able to convert my starts and getting out for 50-60 odd runs. Rahul Sir told me rather than eyeing a big score, concentrate on the process. Just play with the situation and go over by over."

Abhimanyu was also given an advice by former India captain and CAB president Sourav Ganguly who was watching from the sidelines.

"At the lunch break, Sir (Ganguly) told me to play till the end," Abhimanyu said, rating this innings as one of his three best so far.

On a fast Eden Gardens outfield, the Delhi attack was ordinary and it was further depleted with injury to frontline pacer Kulwant Khejroliya who got hurt after taking two wickets in successive overs.

The left-arm pacer dismissed Sudip Chatterjee (2) and Bengal skipper Manoj Tiwary (5) in a fine second spell of 7-0-31-2.

Bengal looked in trouble going into the lunch, losing three wickets in 26 balls after a superb 121-run opening stand between Abhimanyu and Abhishek Raman (52).

Raman gifted his wicket to Nitish Rana, looking to hit inside out and was caught at sweeper cover as Delhi finally got the breakthrough, 15 minutes before the lunch.

Rana quickly brought back his pace spearhead Khejroliya who dismissed Chatterjee LBW off his second ball, before taking Tiwary in his next over.

In the second session, Khejroliya hurt himself while saving a boundary as he was taken out of the attack and Bengal hit the top gear in the second session, sending Delhi bowlers on a leatherhunt.

The duo of Abhimanyu and Majumdar scored at five-plus runs an over, making 122 runs in the decisive second session without losing a wicket.

"They were setting attacking fields and it opened up scoring options. We just played positive and looked for the gaps. The fast outfield did the rest," Abhimanyu said.

Having survived on zero following a dubious decision Tuesday, Abhimanyu also had his luck favouring him when Delhi pacer Subodh Bhati trapped him on line when he was on 41 but the Bengal opener got away with it this time too.

Delhi coach Mithun Manhas, however, chose to ignore the dubious umpiring decisions and said: "That's human nature. You make errors even in batting, bowling."

He was, however, was harsh on his bowlers and said: "I'm very disappointed. We have got ourselves to blame because of the way we bowled. Their run rate and the scores shows that we did not bowl well."

Besides injury to Khejroliya in the final session, Delhi also missed three of their key players -- pacer Navdeep Sahni and spinner leftarm spinner Vikas Mishra and No. 3 Dhruv Shorey.

"If Saini, Mishra and Shorey were fit, things would have been different," Manhas rued.

Delhi next face Tamil Nadu in Chennai in their final league match.

Brief Scores:

Delhi 240 and 301.

Bengal 220 and 323/3 in 70.2 overs (Abhimanyu Easwaran 183 not out, Anustup Majumdar 69 not out, Abhishek Raman 52).

Bengal won by seven wickets. Points Bengal 6, Delhi 0.

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