Rohan Gavaskar's unbeaten ton puts Bengal in command

Bengal virtually assured themselves of a place in the knock out stage of the Ranji Trophy at the Eden Gardens today. Rohan Gavaskar's sixth Ranji Trophy hundred and his 197-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Deep Dasgupta took Bengal past the 600-mark for the first time this season. The home team declared their innings closed at 608 for the loss of five wickets half an hour after lunch. In reply, Bihar were 107 for three wickets at close.

Bihar have been having a poor season and today they did not fare any better. The bowling lacked sting and the batting was devoid of temperament. It will be very difficult for them to save the match unless they really apply themselves. They however, started the day well getting rid of the Bengal skipper Devang Gandhi after only 21 balls had been bowled. India under-19 all-rounder Mihir Diwakar moved one away from Gandhi and the batsman snicked it to the keeper.

Then it was the younger Gavaskar all the way. Playing with a lot of assurance, Gavaskar stroked the ball to all parts of the field. He decided to stick to the basics and played some lovely drives within the 'V'. A straight drive of Dhiraj Kumar was a treat to watch. Deep Dasgupta, however, was a bit lucky. There were a number of times when he flashed hard and was lucky to see the ball going wide of the fielders behind the wicket. However, both scored at more than a run a minute against the insipid attack. Rohan reached his 100 in 227 minutes, cutting Tariqur Rahman to the point boundary. Dasgupta however was to be denied a century. When he was 89 (134 balls, 11x4) he flashed hard at Dheeraj Kumar only to be caught by Kunjan Sharan at point. Gavaskar however, remained unbeaten on 121 (257 m, 174 balls 11x4) when the declaration was made.

When Bihar batted, the Bengal bowling also lacked penetration. However, bad batting resulted in the loss of three wickets. Skipper Rajiv Kumar symbolised this. With about 15 minutes left for the scheduled close, he tried to lift Utpal Chatterjee over mid on only to lob a simple catch to Gavaskar. Earlier, Shib Shankar Pal had given Bengal the breakthrough, dismissing Zeeshan Yaquin after the openers had put on 59. The batsmen played down the wrong line and his middle stump went cartwheeling.

With the Trinamul Congress having called for a bandh tomorrow, there were doubts as to whether the third day's play would be possible. However, it was decided that the entire Bengal team would stay in a hotel close to the ground so that if necessary they could even walk in to the stadium.