Bengal inch closer to quarter-final berth with innings victory

Rookie medium pacer Ishan Porel grabbed his maiden five-wicket haul as Bengal inched closer towards quarter-final with an emphatic innings and 19 run win over Punjab in a Ranji Trophy group D encounter, here.

Amritsar: Rookie medium pacer Ishan Porel grabbed his maiden five-wicket haul as Bengal inched closer towards quarter-final with an emphatic innings and 19 run win over Punjab in a Ranji Trophy group D encounter, here.

Openers Abhishek Raman (155) and Abhimanyu Easwaran (117) propelled Bengal to 379 for 9 before declaring with a big lead of 232 runs.

Punjab were then bowled out for 213 in 56.1 overs with former India U-19 Porel finishing with figures of 5 for 32 in 10.1 overs. Debutant left-arm spinner Pradipta Pramanik (2/72 in 20 overs) and all-rounder B Amit (2/32 in 11 overs) also shared the spoils.

Bengal with 20 points from five games will now need to get atleast a first innings lead against Goa in their final home match in order to ensure a smooth passage into the last eight.

The only time Punjab looked like putting up some resistance was when Gurkeerat Mann (57 off 53 balls) and Anmolpreet Singh (40) added 90 runs for the fourth wicket.

Once Gurkeerat was out trying to give Amir Gani the charge, things changed quickly as wickets fell at regular intervals.

"I am feeling very satisfied having been able to scalp five wickets for Bengal for the first time and that too in a winning cause. We needed to win this match and the fact that I have been able to contribute in some way is even more satisfying," Porel told CAB's official website after the match.

Asked what did they do special as a bowling unit, Porel replied:"We obviously had a plan. We tried to keep it tight and bowl the right lengths. The big runs scored by the team also helped. It put the pressure on them. The fact that we batted for two days and they were skittled out in the first innings rocked their confidence. They just could not fight back."

Breif scores Group D

In Amritsar: Punjab 147 and 213 in 56.1 overs (Gurkeerat Singh 57, Anmolpreet Singh 40, Ishan Porel 5/32) vs Bengal 1st Innings 379/9 decl (Abhishek Raman 155, Abhimanyu Easwaran 117). Bengal won by innings and 19 runs. Points: Bengal 7; Punjab 0.

In Porvorim: Goa 239 and 19/2 vs Vidarbha 427/3 decl (Wasim Jaffer 158, Sanjay Ramaswamy 87, Ganesh Sathish 101).

In Raipur: Chattisgarh 130 and 133 (Diwesh Pathania 7/41) vs Services 272 (Vikas Hathwala 76, Shahnawaz Hussain 5/59) Chattisgarh won by an innings and 9 runs. Points: Services 7; Chattisgarh 0.