Ranji Trophy: Manoj Tiwary and Shahbaz Ahmed keep Bengal afloat as MP hold upper-hand

Tiwary, veteran of many-a-fightback, in company of utility man Shahbaz Ahmed, kept Bengal alive as they reached 197 for five after a top-order collapse against Madhya Pradesh, on the second day of the Ranji Trophy semi-final. At stumps, Tiwary (84 batting, 182 balls) played his best knock of this season, while Shahbaz (72 batting, 149 balls) was equally defiant as they joined forces at a precarious 54 for five and added 143 runs for the unbroken sixth wicket.

This was after a 64-run seventh wicket stand between centurion Himanshu Mantri (165, 372 balls) and Puneet Datey (33) took Madhya Pradesh to a more than respectable first inning score of 341. Mukesh Kumar (4/66) was Bengal's best bowler by a distance.

While Bengal's entire hopes rest on Tiwary and Shahbaz but 144 runs on a third day wicket is still a tall climb and 14 overs are left before the new ball is taken. On a track where Bengal left-arm spinners Shahbaz (3/86 in 20 overs) and his fellow spinner Pradipta Pramanik (1/50 in 14 overs) failed to trouble Mantri, who hit 19 fours and a six, MP coach Chandrakant Pandit's ploy of using Mumbai Indians spinner Kumar Kartikeya (25-9-43-2) first up with the new ball, just before lunch, proved to be a masterstroke.

Kartikeya removed opener Abhishek Raman (0) and last match's hero Sudip Gharami (0) in quick succession to set off a panic attack among the rank and file in the Bengal set-up. While Raman dragged one back to the stumps when there was no room for cut, Gharami went onto back-foot to a delivery that should have been ideally played on the front-foot.

Without going to the pitch of the delivery, Gharami allowed it to turn and it beat his bat while clipping the top of off-stump. The move by Pandit at the stroke of