By Admin 
Railways’ Upendra Yadav and Bhargav Merai have lived to fight another day.
As Monday’s final two sessions of a fourth-round Ranji Trophy contest wore on, it increasingly seemed like Bengal was going to bag all of the seven points on offer with a day to spare. The said duo, however, had other plans.
In the first session of the ongoing Elite Group C game at the Lalbhai Contractor Stadium, the home team added 91 to its overnight score, thanks to the same pair, who had managed to build a concrete perimeter around themselves while driving bowlers up the wall.
But an hour after lunch, pacer Mohammad Kaif managed to land the first punch and break Upendra’s woodwork.
Two more wickets fell in the next five deliveries. The first of those was that of Karn Sharma, whose round trip to the pitch and back was longer than his stay in the centre. The big fish Merai was snared next with Rahul Prasad have him edge to the glovesman.
A last-gasp resistance from the tailenders didn’t last long as Bengal happily triggered the follow-on clause.
Zubair’s pair
Zubair A. Khan didn’t bother the scorers in this essay as well. Pratham Singh and Vivek Singh tried stitching a partnership together, but Kaif tore a hole in the very fabric of their fragile alliance.
With Sumit Mohanta pouching a screamer at mid-on to remove Mohammad Saif, Merai was back fighting a losing battle under the hot Surat sun. Merely 26 overs of play had elapsed since his dismissal in the previous innings. However, it was Vivek who blinked first as Anustup Majumdar took a sharp catch in the slip.
Shahbaz Ahmed stuck to a tight channel to account for Suraj Ahuja. The wicket meant Merai had a familiar face for company again with Railways trailing by 162 runs ahead of the final day’s play.
The scores:
Bengal — 1st innings: 474.
Railways — 1st innings: Zubair A. Khan c Gharami b Jaiswal 0, Vivek Singh b Jaiswal 4, Pratham Singh c Shakir b Jaiswal 11, Mohammad Saif lbw b Jaiswal 0, Bhargav Merai c Shakir b Rahul 91, Suraj Ahuja lbw Shahbaz 19, Upendra Yadav b Kaif 70, Karn Sharma c Shakir b Kaif 0, Akash Pandey c Purohit b Rahul 1, Adarsh Singh b Bhati 13, Kunal Yadav (not out) 3; Extras (w-2, b-4, lb-4): 10; Total (in 86.3 overs): 222.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-7, 3-11, 4-16, 5-55, 6-203, 7-203, 8-203, 9-208.
Bengal bowling: Jaiswal 17-4-35-4, Mohanta 8-3-25-0, Kaif 18-5-48-2, Shahbaz 20-4-42-1, Bhati 9.3-0-30-1, Rahul 14-1-34-2.
Railways — 2nd innings: Zubair A. Khan b Shahbaz 0, Vivek Singh c Anustup b Rahul 29, Pratham Singh c Shakir b Kaif 9, Mohammad Saif c Mohanta b Rahul 3, Bhargav Merai (batting) 20, Suraj Ahuja lbw b Shahbaz 12, Upendra Yadav (batting) 12; Extras (nb-1, b-2, lb-2): 5; Total (for five wkts. in 39 overs): 90.
Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-35, 3-42, 4-43, 5-66.
Bengal bowling: Jaiswal 4-3-8-0, Shahbaz 14-3-26-2, Rahul 11-1-34-2, Kaif 6-2-10-1, Bhati 4-2-8-0.