Ranji Trophy 2024-25: Karnataka vs Bengal, Round 4, Day 4 Review

After Bengal had the upper hand in the game at the end of Day 3, round 4, of the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2024-25 game between Karnataka and Bengal, the southern Indian side were behind in the game while bowling. They would have ideally wanted to turn up fresh for the final day and pick up a few early wickets to keep the eastern state batters in check.

On the other hand, after ending Day 3 with 127/3 in 44 overs, Bengal lost two wickets early on within an hour of play. Vidyadar Patil claimed three wickets (3/53) who bowled magnificently in the morning session. Even having the good lead at this stage Bengal looked like they were slipping in the game. However, they played cautiously initially and ensured they kept their wickets intact.

After settling down, the overnight batter, Sudip Kumar Gharami (101 off 193), played a scintillating knock to register his 5th First Class Hundred. Besides, the veteran Wriddhiman Saha (63 off 70) played a fantastic attacking role and scored his 44th First Class fifty while supporting Gharami quite efficiently. The pair stitched an unbeaten partnership (123* off 156 balls), which put Bengal in the box seat. During the last hour of the second session, they started to play some aggressive brand of cricket.

Also Check- Ranji Trophy 2024-25: Karnataka vs Bengal, Round 4, Day 3 Review

Bengal's intention was clear as they were looking for a declaration. At the end of the first session, the score read 239/5 on the board. In the second session, the Anustup Majumdar-led side continued their aggressive intent and scored 43 runs in just six overs while letting Gharami reach his century. After completing these milestones, Bengal finally declared their Innings for 283/5.

As a result, Karnataka were set a stiff target of 364 runs. Kishan Bedare who came as a concussion substitute opened with the experienced, Mayank Agarwal. Meanwhile, from Bengal's camp, Ishan Porel left the field after picking an injury while bowling his 3rd over. Notably, the side had already lost the service of Rishav Vivek on Day 3.

Also Read: Ranji Trophy 2024-25: Shreyas Iyer smashes third first-class double hundred

So they were left with a sole pacer out of three pacers who were playing the game. Despite the setbacks, Bengal bowled fantastically as they took two wickets in the session including the big wicket of skipper, Mayank Agarwal, who scored just five runs in as many balls. Consequently, Karnataka lost their openers at the score of 12.

Manish Pandey-Smaran allowed Karnataka to play draw against Bengal

When they were staring down the barrel, R Smaran 35* (61) and Shreyas Gopal 32 (57) made sure that they didn't lose any more wickets in the session. Karnataka were 66/2, after the end of the second session. In the final session of the game, Bengal pacer Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal got the wicket of Shreyas Gopal as Bengal were looking to bundle out Karnataka with a dominant victory in sight. However, the veteran batter Manish Pandey 30* (34), started to counterattack to put the opposition under the pump without losing another wicket.

Along with Smaran, he stitched an unbeaten partnership of 44 runs from 58 deliveries. Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal (3/27) bowled beautifully in the absence of his fellow pacers. When there were just 45 minutes left to the end of the final Day. Karnataka were 110/3 in 28 Overs.

At this juncture of the game, both the captains decided to shake their hands to call for the Draw. Bengal got 3 points in the match because of the Innings lead and Karnataka had to settle for 1 point. Skipper Anustup Majumdar of Bengal was awarded as player of the match for his fantastic hundred in the first Innings. Now the focus will shift to Round 5, which will be an important round for both the team in perspective of the future to qualify for Knockouts.