India’s T20 specialist Shivam Dube continued his recent streak of form with a counter-attacking fifty that proved to be the cornerstone of Mumbai’s excellent 330 for six against Bengal on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group B clash at the Eden Gardens here on Friday.
Fresh from his T20I exploits against Afghanistan and a century in Mumbai’s last match against Uttar Pradesh, Dube carried forward his form to smash 12 fours and one six in his 73-ball 72.
Leading the side in absence of an injured Ajinkya Rahane, who is sidelined with a hamstring strain, the left-hander dealt in boundaries early on.
Dube also brought out the best from Suryansh Shedge, who was dropped by Ishan Porel early in his innings, but went on to post 71 (76b; 12×4).
Their 144-run counter-punching stand for the fifth wicket put the pressure back on the home side as the likes of Porel and Mohammed Kaif looked clueless.
After the duo’s departure, Tanush Kotian (55 batting off 73) and Atharva Ankolekar (41 batting off 78) continued the assault, adding to the misery of the Manoj Tiwary-led side.
They duo’s unbroken seventh-wicket partnership was worth 99 runs that came off just 147 deliveries.
Earlier, returning to action after recovering from a knee ligament injury, opener Prithvi Shaw scored a brisk 35 off 42 balls after Tiwary opted to bowl under overcast conditions.
But he could not convert his start and got out soon after his opening partner Bhupen Lalwani departed for 18 (56b).
Suraj Jaiswal was the most impressive of the lot returning with 3/95 as the home side will look to strike early and break Mumbai’s batting rhythm.
“We will give our best to come back stronger and bowl them out on the second day,” Bengal coach Laxmi Ratan Shukla said after the day’s play.
“Our bowlers tried their best, but it wasn’t our day today. I hope our bowlers will dismiss them early tomorrow and put the pressure back on them.”
Brief Scores
At Kolkata: Mumbai 330/6 in 75 overs (Shivam Dube 72, Suryansh Shedge 71, Tanush Kotian 55 batting, Atharva Ankolekar 41 batting; Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal 3/95) vs Bengal.
At Patna: Bihar 182 in 86.5 overs (Raghuvendra Pratap Singh 92, Himanshu Singh 32 not out; Girinath Reddy 5/23, Nitish Kumar Reddy 2/50) vs Andhra.
At Raipur: Kerala 219/4 in 74 overs (Sachin Baby 91, Sanju Samson 57 batting, Rohan Prem 51; Ashish Chouhan 2/47) vs Chhattisgarh.
At Kanpur: Uttar Pradesh 319/2 in 80 overs (Aryan Juyal 162 batting, Karan Sharma 108 batting; Mukhtar Hussain 1/75, Mrinmoy Dutta 1/71) vs Assam.
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