Prithvi Shaw was looking cagey. Overcast conditions at Eden Gardens can do that to the most technically efficient batter. Dank skies in the afternoon are never good news, even when the temperature hovers at 30 degrees Celsius.
More so when Mohammed Shami has the new ball in hand. Straightaway on the money, he was getting the ball seam away before getting one to jack back in. The in-cutting delivery was the one that made Shami, and that has never changed all these years.
Maharashtra opener Shaw should have taken note early, especially when a delivery jumped off good length and hit the splice of the bat to almost reach the fielder at mid-on. Shami was making the ball talk by then.
Bengal had been dismissed for 143 and defending the paltry total, Shami had no choice but to attack. First ball of his fourth over, Shami neatly pitched the ball slightly up, got it to seam in and clatter into Shaw’s off-stump. Beaten by pace and movement, and the bat not moving along the body and in front of his pad — Shaw had really no chance against a delivery of that quality.
That dismissal psyched up Shami. Next ball, he pinned Digvijay Patil on the back leg, again hurrying him with pace, and the loud appeal from Shami and the slip cordon was upheld by the umpire. Coming in at No 4, Ankit Bawne was not only battling the conditions but also the hat-trick ball from a fired up Shami. And he nearly had it too. Quick and accurate, Shami again shaped the ball in, and Bawne barely managed to put forward his bat to stave off the ball, momentarily oblivious that the ball had bounced off the turf and landed near his front foot. Disaster averted, the elements intervened soon enough.
Bad light held up play and Maharashtra ended the first day on 21/2, eight overs after Bengal were bowled out for 143.
The hosts are used to such scores by now. Against Services at Palam, they scored 184 and 146, in Kerala they got 198 in the second innings. But in their own backyard, better application was expected from Bengal after Maharashtra put them into bat. Only Abhishek Porel (54) emerged from the batting mess with pride intact, racing to his fifty in 59 balls but losing his wicket soon after.
But for Porel adding 66 runs for the eighth wicket with Pradipta Pramanik (31), it would have more embarrassing for Bengal. Still, to concede eight of their 10 wickets to seamers underlines the immaturity with which Bengal approached the first session on a fresh pitch. Abhimanyu Easwaran was caught chasing a ball wide outside off stump, Sudeep Gharami shouldered arms to a ball that shaped in to castle his stumps. Sudip Chatterjee’s dismissal was similar as well, only this time Tanay Sanghvi got the ball to shape in and trap him leg before.
Nearly a session was lost due to the weather and still the match has progressed so much that a quick finish is on the cards. Bengal had a harrowing outing but the fact that Maharashtra are still trailing by 122 runs with the ball doing so much, the hosts would be hoping for a better second day to keep themselves in the hunt for at least three points.
Brief scores (Day 1): Bengal 143 in 36.5 ovs (A Porel 54, P Pramanik 31, P Dadhe 3/45, T Sanghvi 3/30) v Maharashtra 21/2 in 8 ovs (M Shami 2/6)