Ranji Trophy Final: Unadkat, Sakariya rattle Bengal; hand Saurashtra edge on Day 1

Saurashtra pace duo of Jaydev Unadkat and Chetan Sakariya rattled the home team's top-order to bundle them out for a paltry 174

Kolkata: Bengal’s dream of winning a Ranji Trophy after more than three decades suffered a setback as left-arm Saurashtra pace duo of Jaydev Unadkat and Chetan Sakariya rattled the home team’s top-order to bundle them out for a paltry 174 on the opening day of the summit clash here on Thursday.

It would have been more embarrassing for Bengal but spin all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed (69) and wicketkeeper Abhishek Porel (50) saved the hosts from the blushes with gritty half-centuries.

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The duo showed the way for the top-order in a 101-run stand for the seventh wicket and batted close to four hours to frustrate Saurashtra.

But they looked in a sense of urgency and took risks as Saurashtra wrapped up Bengal innings’ with left-arm spinner Dharmendrasingh Jadeja (2/19) scalping two wickets.

At close on day one, Saurashtra were 81 for 2, trailing Bengal by 93 runs. In-form opener Harvik Desai (38), who has more than 600 runs this season, was at the crease with night watchman Sakariya (2).
The duo survived some late charge by Bengal pace duo of Akash Deep and Mukesh Kumar to bring the deficit under 100.

With their leading run-getter of the season Aprit Vasavada (826 runs at 75.06) yet to come along with the prolific duo of Sheldon Jackson (529) and Chirag Jani (509), Saurashtra would definitely fancy a first innings lead.

Bengal bowlers looked pedestrian at start but Akash Deep and Mukesh Kumar took some purchase in the fag end of the day to dismiss Jay Gohil (6) and Vishvaraj Jadeja (25) respectively.

Making a comeback after being released from the Test side, Unadkat (3/44) produced a terrific opening spell of 5-2-7-2, while Sakariya (3/33) made the ball talk in initially to reduce Bengal to 17 for 4 inside 31 minutes.

Brief Scores: Bengal: 174 in 54.1 overs (Shahbaz Ahmed 69, Abhishek Porel 50; Jaydev Unadkat 3/44, Chetan Sakariya 3/33) vs Saurashtra 81/2 in 17 overs.