The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Manoj Tiwary is Bengal’s hero

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Monday, Nov 05, 2007
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Manoj Tiwary is Bengal’s hero

Special Correspondent

CRICKET / His unbeaten 147 contains 19 fours and two sixes

—Photo: SUSHANTA PATRONOBISH

AWESOME: Manoj Tewary’s chanceless knock has put Bengal in the driver’s seat on the first day of the four-day match against Hyderabad at Kolkata.

KOLKATA: Manoj Tiwary was Bengal’s hero on the opening day of the four-day Ranji Trophy Super League Group ‘B’ match against Hyderabad at the Eden Gardens here on Sunday.

A confident unbeaten 147 enabled the home side end the day at 289 for five on a pitch that has started to assist the spinners.

But for Tiwary’s fifth first class hundred in ten matches and fourth century in Ranji Trophy, Bengal would have been in deep trouble. Giving him company at close was debutant wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha on 34.

It was indeed a good toss to win. By making the first use of the strip which was not prepared well to take the strain of four days of action, Bengal should be looking to amass anything in excess of 350.

Not that Hyderabad had a bad start. Capping three newcomers in wicketkeeper Habeeb Ahmed, mediumpacer S.M. Shoaib and left-arm spinner A. Lalith Mohan, Hyderabad managed to get two early wickets that of Amitava Chakraborty and Arindam Das, both for 25 runs.

If Das looked plumb in front of the wicket to Mohan, Chakraborty was declared caught at silly-point by Ravi Teja off Pragyan Ojha, the ball seemed to have gone off the boot.

Bad start

From 67 for two in the 27th over, Bengal reached 100 for two in 38 overs at lunch, thanks to Tiwary and No. 3 Anustup Majumdar, who showed a lot of confidence playing in that position.

Bengal added 112 between lunch and tea, losing the wicket of Majumdar for 25. The dapper right-hander in his 92-minute stay showed good temperament and technique.

Tiwary also brought up his half-century (8x4, 2x6) with a six in 81 minutes off 62 balls.

In the company of Safi Ahmed, returning to the Bengal rank after a four-year break, Tiwary prospered.

While Ahmed kept one end going with defensive batting, Tiwary opened up with a flurry of strokes. The two added 95 runs for the fourth wicket.

The slowness of the pitch forced the batsmen to go for the aerial route. And Tiwary used the lofted drive to telling effect, making full use of the attacking field set by V.V.S. Laxman.

He raced to 100 in 137 minutes off 111 balls with 14 fours and two sixes, hit one each of two left-arm spinners, Ojha and Mohan.

Tiwary’s chanceless, unbeaten knock, coming in 248 minutes off 213 balls, contained 19 fours and two sixes.

“I am looking forward to score a double hundred on Monday to not only take the score past 350 mark but to surpass by previous best of 210 against Mumbai last season,” he told the media.

“The wicket is offering turn to spinners, and it will be difficult to gather runs as the match progresses. That is why I had to bat aggressively to speed up the scoring rate,” Tiwary said.

The scores: Bengal — 1st innings: A. Chakraborty c Teja b Ojha 25, A. Das lbw b Mohan 25, A. Majumdar c Ahmed b Arjun 25, M. Tiwary (batting) 147, S. Ahmed c Manohar b Shinde 14, L.R. Shukla c Pai b Shinde 0, W. Saha(batting) 34; Extras (b-5, lb-12, nb-2): 19; Total (for five in 95 overs): 289.

Fall of wickets: 1-45, 2-67, 3-126, 4-221, 5-221.

Hyderabad bowling: Arjun 9-2-24-1, Shoaib 11-3-22-0, Ojha 33-10-100-1, Mohan 25-3-71-1, Shinde 16-1-53-2, Teja 1-0-2-0.

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