Ranji Trophy Group D: Dinda, Shami swing Bengal to innings victory

Raipur: It took just one hour for Mohammed Shami and Ashok Dinda to take the remaining five Chhattisgarh wickets and power Bengal to a bonus-point win in a Ranji Trophy Group D encounter here on Tuesday.

Raipur: It took just one hour for Mohammed Shami and Ashok Dinda to take the remaining five Chhattisgarh wickets and power Bengal to a bonus-point win in a Ranji Trophy Group D encounter here on Tuesday.

Ashok Dinda made it a memorable 100th first-class game for himself with figures of 10 for 47, overshadowing India star Mohammed Shami's match-haul of eight wickets as Bengal walloped Chhattisgarh by an innings and 160

Following on, Chhattisgarh started the final day at 229 for 5 but lost the final five wickets for only 30 more runs as they were all out for 259 in their second innings.

The match was over in less than 12 overs as Shami and Dinda shared the spoils between them.

While Dinda's second innings figures were 3/26 in addition to 7/21 in the first essay, it was Shami, who really made the difference in the second innings with six for 61.

Shami's match figures were 8 for 105 -- a reminder to the selectors that he is in fine form.

Most of Shami's wickets were either leg-before or bowled to right-hand batsmen -- an indication that he was getting the ball to jag back.

Dinda, on the other hand, bowled his customary hit the deck the stuff with occasional fuller delivery getting his 23rd five-wicket and sixth 10-wicket haul in first class cricket.

Such was the Bengal seamers’ domination that captain Manoj Tiwary even operated with nine slips at the fag end of the Chhattisgarh innings - a sight last seen in international cricket during a Test match between Australia and Zimbabwe in 1999.

Brief Scores:

Bengal: 529/7 decl. Chhattisgarh: 110 & 259 in 81.4 overs (Abhimanyu Chauhan 115, Ashutosh Singh 71, Mohammed Shami 6/61, Ashok Dinda 3/26).

Bengal won by an innings and 160 runs.

Points: Bengal 7; Chhattisgarh 0.

Other Group D matches

Himachal Pradesh: 625/7 Goa: 255 & 426/2 (Swapnil Asnodkar 167, Sumiran Amonkar 137). Match drawn.

Points: Himachal Pradesh 1; Goa 0.