Day 1 Report

Haldipur (92*) and Syed Saba Karim (79*) put together an unbroken 161 run partnership for the fourth wicket to put Bengal in a sound position against Rajasthan.

Opener DJ Gandhi (31), Deep Dasgupta (20), and Srikant Kalyani (18) were out in quick succession before lunch. At lunch Bengal were placed at 3 for 85 off 38.4 overs. These three wickets were all the success that Rajasthan had till close of play, as Haldipur and Karim put together a big partnership.

N Haldipur was dropped twice in his 80s, first by Mohammad Aslam off his own bowling when he was on 82, and then debutant V Saxena at fineleg did the same off DP Singh.

Day 2: Haldipur, Karim score tons

Middle-order batsmem N Haldipur and S Karim played some marvellous cricket and added 187 runs for the 4th wicket. At close of play Bengal were 9 for 476 off 182.1 overs. U Chatterjee batting in 27 runs.

Earlier in the day Haldipur hit his 3rd century in Ranji Trophy, while Karim scored his 17th. Another notable performance came from Ajay Das who hit a patient 56 runs. Karim and Ajay Das added 87 runs for the 5th wicket.

Karim was dropped by Rahul Kanwat off Mohammad Aslam's bowling when he was on 122 runs. Kanwat was again in limelight when he brilliantly run out Safi Ahmed, going for a second run. P Krishnakumar ran out Ajay Das from short mid-wicket.

Day 3: Bengal bowlers restrict Rajasthan

Bengal was right on top at the close of play today. After scoring 489 in their first innings they took four Rajasthan wickets restricting them to 190 runs.

Earlier in the morning, in 35 minutes of play, Bengal added 13 runs to their total before R Bose was trapped leg before by P Krishnakumar. Utpal Chatterjee remain not out on 35.

In Rajasthan first innings debutant Vineet Saxena was out cheaply as he try to turn a ball from R Bose, missed the line, and was bowled. Rajasthan's only bright moment was Anshu Jain's 95 runs. He was unluckly to miss his second century in the super league. In the first match against Punjab he scored 100.

At close of play P Krishnakumar and Ajay Mehra are on 16 and 4 respectively.

Day 4: Banerjee routs Rajasthan

After heavy overnight rain threatened to disrupt play, Banerjee's effort gave Bengal 5 crucial points.

Today play commenced after lunch due to rain. The rules state that the new ball must be taken after 100 overs, and that new ball did the damage to the Rajasthan batsmen, as Banerjee bundled them out in nine overs. He took the last five wickets for 29 runs. Only all-rounder P Krishnakumar played a brave innings of 53 runs. Bengal secured a 216 run first innings lead plus 5 points, while Rajasthan had to be content with 3 points.

At close of play, Bengal were 71 for 4 wickets. After 9 mandatory overs, play was called off. Rajasthan will play their next match at the same venue from 23rd Feb against Baroda.