MP-Bengal match ends in draw

Gwalior, Nov 13 (UNI) Madhya Pradesh earned 3 points by virtue of a first-innings lead as the four-day Ranji Trophy Plate Group 'B' match against Bengal ended in a tame draw here today.

Chasing a victory target of 160 after Bengal were bowled out for 227 in their second innings, the hosts' tumbled like ninepins as they lost six wickets with the scoreboard reading just 63-run when the umpires called off the match 10 overs before the schedule due to bad light.

Himalay Sagar (30) was the sole batsman for Madhya Pradesh who crossed the single-figure mark.

For the visitors, medium-pacer Ranadeb Bose took two wickets while Ashok Dinda, Ritam Kundu and Manoj Tiwari scalped a batsman each.

Earlier resuming at their overnight score of 126/4, Bengal Batsman Abhik Chowdhury (overnight 45 not out) and Bardhaman Shah (50 not out) consolidated the innings. While Chowdhury scored 60 with the help of five boundaries, Shah played beautifully to score a compact 83 with nine hits to the fence.

With a fine bowling spell, Madhya Pradesh's Shantanu Pitre claimed 5 wickets giving away 50 runs while Sanjay Pande scalped 3 off 30.

Brief scores: Bengal (1st innings) 210 all out (2nd innings) 227 all out Madhya Pradesh (1st innings) 278 (2nd innings) 63/6 UNI XC-BDG AC RKM GC2113