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Player of the Match
Player of the Match

Abishek Porel capitalises with fifty as Bengal post 438 and end second day ahead

Kumar Kartikeya picked up six wickets in the second innings to see Madhya Pradesh through to the final four ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Madhya Pradesh 56 for 2 (Jain 17*, Agarwal 4*, Porel 1-4) trail Bengal 438 (Majumdar 120, Gharami 112, Kartikeya 3-95) by 382 runs

Bengal's later middle-order steel helped them build on hundreds from Anustup Majumdar and Sudeep Gharami, as they took control of the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy semi-final against defending champions MP in Indore. Resuming on 307 for 4, Bengal were bowled out for 438, but the twin hundreds during the course of a mammoth 241-run third-wicket stand helped them gain the overall advantage.

In reply, MP were 56 for 2 before the close of play on the second day. Yash Dubey was out caught behind off Akash Deep, while Himanshu Mantri was caught in the slips off Ishan Porel. Saransh Jain and nightwatcher Anubhav Agarwal held fort in the dying moments of play to ensure the hosts had no further damage on a surface that was slowly beginning to wear down.

Bengal's innings stuttered early on day two as they lost Shahbaz Ahmed for 14. Manoj Tiwary, the captain, and Abishek Porel, the wicketkeeper, then put together 78 for the sixth wicket before Tiwary's downfall brought about a lower-order collapse.

Bengal lost their last five wickets for just 37 runs, with Kumar Kartikeya, MP's left-arm spinner, picking up three of those wickets to turn an otherwise wicketless spell into figures of 3 for 95 in 36.3 overs. The fast-bowling pair of Anubhav Agarwal and Gaurav Yadav picked up four wickets between them, while Avesh Khan proved to be a tad expensive as well as ineffective, ending with figures of 1 for 111 in 31 overs.

With the odd delivery jumping on the batters, especially off a length off spinners, batting is likely to get progressively tougher as the game progresses, with MP still 382 behind Bengal's first-innings total.

M. Pradesh 4th innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st33Y DubeyHS Mantri
2nd34SS SharmaY Dubey
3rd15SS SharmaRM Patidar
4th43RM PatidarVR Iyer
5th54AR ShrivastavaRM Patidar
6th22SS JainAR Shrivastava
7th3AR ShrivastavaK Kartikeya
8th0Avesh KhanK Kartikeya
9th13K KartikeyaAS Agarwal
10th24Gaurav YadavAS Agarwal

Ranji Trophy

Elite, Group A
TeamMWLDPT
BENG741232
UKHND730429
HP721421
BRODA721421
ODSA712414
UP712413
HRYNA712413
NAGA70522
Elite, Group B
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AP742126
MAHA730426
SAU732226
MUM732224
TN721421
DELHI722317
ASSAM713311
HYD70611
Elite, Group C
TeamMWLDPT
KNTKA740335
JHK732223
KER731321
RAJ722320
CGR734019
GOA722318
SVCS724113
PONDI71519
Elite, Group D
TeamMWLDPT
MP751133
PNJB730427
RLYS732222
VIDAR732220
GUJ724114
TPURA702511
J + K71428
CHD70257
Plate Group
TeamMWLDPT
MEGHA541025
SIKM531120
MNPR531120
BIHAR511314
MIZO51318
ARP50500