It was another Ranji Trophy match at Bansi lal Stadium that turned out to be farcical contest as Baroda beat Bengal by 21 runs with 40 wickets falling well inside two days.
Baroda went home happy defending a target of 155 as Bengal were all out for 133 in their second innings. This was after Baroda also scored an identical 133 in their second essay.
Ironically, the difference of 21 runs in the first innings turned out to be the turning point for Baroda.
Young seamer Atit Seth (10/94) would remember this match for his performance but will certainly not be an indicator of his capabilities in conditions loaded in favour of bowlers. With six inch grass at three quarter length and damp patches made the life hell for the batsmen.
The highest score in the entire match was Tiwary's 39 in the second innings.
The defeat dented Bengal's chances of qualification for knock outs as they are placed fifth now with 16 points.
Tn score 218/4
Nagpur: Tamil Nadu closed in on Punjab's first-innings total of 284 all out in their Group A Ranji Trophy cricket match here on Tuesday.
At stumps on the second day, Tamil Nadu were 218/4 in 75 overs, trailing by 66 runs at Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground. Resuming on 241/6, Punjab added 43 runs for the loss of four wickets. In reply, Tamil Nadu lost skipper Abhinav Mukund and laxmesha Suryaprakash with 44 runs on the board.
But an 85-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Kaushik Gandhi (75 not out) and the experienced Dinesh Karthik (54) steadied the TN innings.
After Karthik's departure made it 156/4, Gandhi put on 62 runs for the fifth wicket with Vijay Shankar, who was batting 32 at close of play.
Pant sizzles yet again
Wayanad: Rishabh Pant's dream season continued as he snatched the limelight from India internationals Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan with a breathtaking 75 off 59 balls that had nine boundaries and three sixes in a Ranji Trophy encounter against Rajasthan.
In the second innings, Rajasthan were 19 for 1 and with two days left, the Gautam Gambhir led side will be aiming for full points to stay in contention for the knock-out stage. In the morning, Gambhir (10) was cleaned by left-arm seamer Aniket Chaudhary.
Dhawan started the day on 29 and hit two more boundaries as both openers fell at the identical score of 52. The stocky Pant came in at the fall of Nitish Rana's (24) wicket and started carting the bowlers with utter disdain.