Pradipta Pramanik takes 10 wickets as Bengal beat Kerala by 287 runs in Mangalapuram

Pradipta Pramanik took ten wickets in the match as Bengal beat Kerala by 287 runs to make it three wins from three in the Ranji Trophy

Bengal finished the job before lunch on the final day at the KCA Cricket Ground in Mangalapuram, bowling Kerala out for 120 in 38.4 overs after setting them 408 to win.

Slow left-arm spinner Pradipta Pramanik claimed 6-51 in the second innings to go with his 4-44 in the first, a match return of 10-95.

It was Bengal's third win in as many matches this season and left them on top of Elite Group C. Kerala, beaten for the first time, had won one and drawn one of their opening two.

Kerala's last six go for 67

Kerala resumed on 53 for 4, still 355 short of their target, and lasted barely an hour. The last six wickets added 67 runs.

The chase had been undermined the evening before, when both openers, Abhishek J Nair and Abhishek P Nair, were dismissed without scoring.

Vishnu Vinod, 19 not out overnight, was unable to add to his score on the final morning. MD Nidheesh top-scored in the innings with 33 and Mohammed Azharuddeen made 26, the only two Kerala batters to pass 20 after the restart.

Shahbaz Ahmed took 2-19 at the other end as Bengal worked through the lower order.

Ten wickets for Pramanik

Pramanik finished with the best figures of the match on either side. His 4-44 in Kerala's first innings and 6-51 in the second gave him 10 wickets for 95 runs across the four days.

The surface offered the bowlers enough throughout. All four innings were completed and 40 wickets fell inside four days, in a match in which no side passed 350.

Kerala's two innings together lasted 90.1 overs, fewer than the 102.2 Bengal batted for in their first innings alone.

Shahbaz Ahmed sets the terms

Kerala won the toss and bowled. Bengal made 350, built around Shahbaz Ahmed's 121, with Ankur Paul supporting him on 66.

Aditya Sarwate took 4-95 for Kerala and Nedumankuzhy Basil 3-64.

Kerala were then dismissed for 141 in 51.3 overs, Pramanik taking 4-44 and Mohammed Shami 3-35. Vishnu Vinod made 41, Mohammed Azharuddeen 30 not out and Sachin Baby 23.

Shahbaz, who also took four wickets across the two innings, was named player of the match. The 209-run first-innings lead his hundred helped build was the deficit Kerala never recovered from.

Saxena's five keeps Kerala in it

Leading by 209, Bengal chose to bat again rather than enforce the follow-on, and were bowled out for 198 in 46 overs.

Jalaj Saxena took 5-70 and Sarwate added 3-72, the pair taking all but two of the wickets to fall and keeping Kerala's target within reach of a good day.

Abhimanyu Easwaran made 47, Sudip Chatterjee 34 and Shami 26, setting Kerala 408 to chase on a fourth-day surface.

Three from three for Bengal

Bengal have beaten Delhi, Services and now Kerala in the opening three rounds, a run that has taken them to the top of Elite Group C.

Bengal's head coach, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, told ETV Bharat that the win came from the side's unity, and that the aim was to keep the winning habit going.

Bengal play Maharashtra next. Kerala, third in the group, travel to face Gujarat from 2 November.

Scorecard: Bengal 350 (Shahbaz Ahmed 121, Ankur Paul 66; Aditya Sarwate 4-95) and 198 (Abhimanyu Easwaran 47; Jalaj Saxena 5-70) beat Kerala 141 (Vishnu Vinod 41; Pradipta Pramanik 4-44, Mohammed Shami 3-35) and 120 (MD Nidheesh 33; Pradipta Pramanik 6-51) by 287 runs.

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