Dehradun: Abhimanyu Easwaran continued his fine form with an unbeaten on 82 in Bengal’s second innings as their Ranji Trophy Group A match against hosts Uttarakhand ended in a tame draw here on Friday.
Easwaran, who hit 165 in the first innings at the ground named after him, continued from where he left and added 58 runs to his overnight score, while Sudip Kumar Gharami (72) made 48 more runs on Friday as Bengal declared their second innings at 206 for 7, setting Uttarakhand an improbable target of 322 runs.
The match ended in a stalemate as Uttarkhand made 69 for no loss in 23 overs in their second innings while chasing the target with openers Avneesh Sudha (54 not out0 and skipper Jiwanjot Singh (14 not out) remaining unbeaten.
Despite pocketing three points from the match by virtue of first innings lead, Bengal are placed second in Group A with 19 points from four games, whereas, Uttarakhand took home one point and are at the top of the table with 20 points from same number of matches. The other Group A matches between Odisha and Nagaland, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and Baroda and Himachal Pradesh also failed to produce a result.
But Odisha, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh pocketed three points from their matches on account of first innings lead while Nagaland, Uttar Pradesh and Baroda had to be content with one point each.
Brief Scores: At Dehradun: Bengal 387 & 206 for 7 decl (Abhimanyu Easwaran 82 not out, Sudip Kumar Gharami 72; Mayank Mishra 4/99) vs Uttarakhand 272 & 69 for no loss in 23 overs (Avneesh Sudha 54). Bengal 3 points, Uttarakhand 1 point.
At Cuttack: Nagaland 433 & 120 for 1 in 32 overs (Joshua Ozukum 56, Yugandhar Singh 53 not out; Jayanta Behera 1/34) vs Odisha 535 for 8 decl (Shantanu Mishra 200, Prayash Singh 104; Akash Singh 4/73). Odisha 3 points, Nagaland 1 point.
At Lucknow: Haryana 365 (Ankit Kumar 174, Sumit Kumar 95; Aaqib Khan 4/73) vs Uttar Pradesh 197 & 72 for 1 in 12 overs (Priyam Garg 36 not out, Dhruv Jurel 31 not out; Ajit Chahal 1/41). Haryana 3 points, Uttar Pradesh 1 point.
At Vadodara: Baroda 355 & 216 for 6 (Pratyush Kumar 59, Jyotsnil Singh 50; Gurvinder Singh 5/59) vs Himachal Pradesh 561 for 8 decl (Prashant Chopra 159, Ankit Kalsi 145; Ninad Rathva 4/127). Himachal Pradesh 3 points, Baroda 1 point. —PTI