HYDERABAD: A combination of inconsistent umpiring and incompetent batting left Bengal struggling at 172 for seven at close of play against Hyderabad's 309 on the second day of the four-day Ranji Trophy Super League Group `B' cricket match at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium (Uppal) here on Wednesday.

N. Arjun Yadav (85, 191 balls, 9x4, 2x6) failed to reach the three-figure mark when he was trapped lbw on the shuffle by Saurav Sarkar. Then it was left to the hard-hitting P. Kaushik Reddy (32 not out, 56 balls, 4x4) to prop up the total as medium-pacer Ranadeb Bose (three for 44) bowled very effectively in the morning.

Bengal began its reply with the primary objective of grabbing the vital first-innings lead, but it was taken aback by the five leg-before decisions, that too all from the far end. Medium-pacer Alfred Absolom was lucky to have A.P. Chakraborty given out, trapped in front. Bengal captain Deep Das Gupta was also unlucky against P. Kaushik Reddy. The two batsmen were so disappointed at the verdict that they took a long time to leave the crease for they were well forward and not in line of the stumps.

Southpaw Rohan Gavaskar (66, 108 balls, 10x4), who was the best on display and executed some exquisite strokes on either side of the wicket both against pace and spin, was disappointed at being declared out, caught behind by keeper Ibrahim Khaleel while trying to sweep left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha.

But, it was a beauty of a delivery from Kaushik Reddy which saw the exit of Laxmi Ratan Shukla as the ball lifted and swung away from the batsman forcing him to snick straight into slip fielder D.B. Ravi Teja, for a first-ball duck.

Bengal was then 104 for six in 39 overs, but a fighting 60-run stand between Rohan Gavaskar and Sourashish Lahiri (26 batting, 89 balls, 3x4) pulled the team out of woods briefly before Rohan fell in the final session to give Hyderabad the edge.

The scores:

Hyderabad — 1st innings: T. Suman c L.R. Shukla b S.S. Lahiri 44, D.B. Ravi Teja c S.S. Lahiri b A. Dinda 57, P. Sashank Nag lbw b A. Dinda 1, Anirudh Singh b A. Dinda 18, N. Arjun Yadav lbw b S.S. Sarkar 85, D. Vinay Kumar (run out) 23, Ibrahim Khaleel lbw b A. Dinda 12, M.P. Arjun c D. Dasgupta b R.R. Bose 12, A.A. Absolom b R.R. Bose 0, P. Kaushik Reddy (not out) 32, Pragyan Ojha c D. Dasgupta b R.R. Bose 2; Extras: (b-11, lb-7, nb-5) 23. Total: (all out in 109.5 overs) 309.

Fall of wickets: 1-91, 2-103, 3-105, 4-159, 5-201, 6-229, 7-259, 8-261, 9-290.

Bengal bowling: R.R. Bose 24.5-7-44-3, S.S. Sarkar 17-4-68-1, A. Dinda 35-10-78-4, S.S. Lahiri 24-5-85-1, Tiwary 5-2-3-0, Shukla 3-1-8-0, Rohan Gavaskar 1-0-5-0.

Bengal — 1st innings: Arindam Das lbw b P. Ojha 5, A.P. Chakraborty lbw b A.A. Absolom 10, A.A. Jhunjhunwala lbw b A.A. Absolom 16, Rohan Gavaskar c I. Khaleel b P. Ojha 66, Manoj Tiwary lbw b M.P. Arjun 31, D. Dasgupta lbw b P. Kaushik Reddy 1, L.R. Shukla c D.B. Ravi Teja b Kaushik Reddy 0, S.S. Lahiri (batting) 26, S.S. Sarkar (batting) 1; Extras: (b-7, lb-6, w-3) 16. Total (for seven wkts., in 68 overs) 172.

Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-26, 3-44, 4-88, 5-100, 6-104, 7-164.

Hyderabad bowling: Kaushik Reddy 15-0-57-2, M.P. Arjun 13-4-26-1, Absolom 15-6-37-2, Ojha 23-11-38-2, Arjun Yadav 2-1-1-0.

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