Ranji Trophy 2023 24: Anustup Majumdar, Sourav Paul give Bengal the edge over Andhra on opening day

Anustup Majumdar’s century and Sourav Paul’s 96 gave Bengal a hold over Andhra after the opening day of the Ranji Trophy group B fixture played at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Friday. Majumdar pulled, cut, drove, and flicked while Sourav patiently found boundaries off bad balls.

The two contrasting innings combined to build a solid platform for Bengal, which ended the day at 289 for four. There were a lot of appeals, some desperate, but the Bengal duo shrugged off each play and miss, and was on top of the ball the next delivery en route to a 189 run stand for the third wicket.

The partnership was broken when Sourav swept the ball straight to the midwicket fielder. An hour later, and just an over before Stumps, Majumdar edged one to first slip and fell for 125. But the only time Andhra had total control was in the first 45 minutes after being asked to bowl. KV Sasikanth and Nithish Kumar Reddy’s opening spell left both Bengal openers – Sourav and Shreyansh Ghosh – apprehensive.

Wicket to wicket lines made captain Hanuma Vihari bring in a short leg and Nithish immediately gave Andhra its first scalp as Shreyansh departed early. Sudip Gharami and Sourav then got together to play out the rest of the session. Left arm spinner Lalith Mohan bowled from one end while Vihari switched pacers from the other as Andhra choked the run flow.

Lalith’s consistency finally induced an edge off Sudip’s bat as Bengal lost its second wicket 20 minutes before Lunch. However, with conditions becoming better for batting, Sourav and Majumdar accumulated as many runs as possible. Prithvi Raj Yarra’s short ball tactics and Sasikanth’s effort balls weren’t enough to put pressure on the batters.

To make things worse, wicketkeeper Ricky Bhui went off the field after being hit on head in the third session and didn’t come back for the rest of the day. Comments Related Topics.