Faiz Fazal and Sanjay Ramaswamy drove Bengal ragged as Vidarbha seized command of their Group D encounter on the opening day of the fifth round of matches in the Ranji Trophy on Thursday (November 9). Elsewhere, Chhattisgarh and Goa moved into the ascendancy against Himachal Pradesh and Services respectively as bowlers too had their say.
Faiz Fazal completed a third successive century and engaged himself in a 259-run opening-wicket stand with Sanjay Ramaswamy as Vidarbha had a field day at the Bengal Cricket Academy ground, finishing on 285 for 1 when the umpires called stumps to offer Bengal some respite.
Manoj Tiwary’s decision to field first to make the most of the early start in the east of India spectacularly backfired as Fazal and Sanjay dug in for the long haul. Ashok Dinda and Kanishk Seth failed to make any inroads, and Bengal’s anxiety quickly made way for frustration as the score began to mount. While Sanjay was content to bide his time, Fazal was a lot more expressive, befitting of a man coming off scores of 136 and 125 in his two previous innings.
Fazal, the captain, was the first to three-figures and the partnership swelled in proportion until Bengal finally tasted their only success of the day when Dinda trapped Fazal in front. Fazal fell for 142, his highest score this season, off 232 deliveries with 22 fours. Sanjay carried on unflustered, ending the day on a sedate 117 (238b, 14×4), and had Wasim Jaffer (18) for company at close.
Vidarbha lie second in the group 14 points from three matches, just ahead of Bengal who have 13 points from the same number of games.
