PANAJI
Put into bat by the opposition, Goa folded up for 146 in 64 overs and in reply Bengal were trailing by 89 runs in their first dig with eight wickets in hand at the Cooch Behar Trophy U-19 (2017-18) Round V Group C clash at JU Second Campus, Salt Lake, Kolkata on Sunday.
Goa started on a disastrous note in their first essay, losing Manthan Khutkar early with no runs on board. They continued to lose wickets at regular intervals and at one stage were tottering at 83/7 from 36.2 overs, until captain and former India U-19 World Cupper Heramb Parab along with Ruthvik Naik gave a semblance of a resistance.
Parab eventually fell on an authoritative 44 (68, 2x4, 3x6) to end a 46-run eight-wicket stand which was the highest partnership of the innings. Ruthvik Naik played a patient hand with a 27 (70b, 4x4) and was the next best individual runs scorer. Goa lost the remaining two wickets for an addition of another 17 runs for a paltry total of 146. In the Bengal attack, left-arm spinner Akash Pandey was on song with 6/59 from 28 overs.
In reply, Bengal lost two wickets at a team score of 28 but opener Sourav Paul 29* (64b, 2x4) along with Sayan Kumar Biswas 21* (43b, 2x4) came together to do a repair job to take the score to 57/ 2 in 26 overs when stumps were drawn on day 1. Ruthvik Naik and Omprakash Chauhan took a wicket apiece for Goa.
Speaking to The Goan at the end of Day 1, Goa U-19 coach Prashant Kakode partly blamed his team's batting and the loss of a toss for being bundled out for a low score. "The toss was crucial. Having been inserted to bat, Bengal bowlers capitalised on a helpful wicket that had grass and windy weather in the morning to make the most of the situation," Kakode said. "The wicket eased out later, with Hemant Parab and Rithvik Naik putting on useful runs down the order. With Bengal on 57/2, we need to make most of helpful morning bowling conditions on Day 2 to get back into the contest," the Goa coach stated.
