The Ranji Trophy finals is currently being held in Rajkot. Saurashtra and Bengal were the two worthy winners of their respective semi finals. Saurashtra have reached the finals 4 times in last 10 years but the title has eluded them last 3 times. Now they will be looking to add a title with the advantage of having a home final.
The former Bengal Captain and talismanic batsman Manoj Tiwary was given a huge reprieve during his innings in Day 3. In the post lunch session’s play here in Rajkot, Manoj Tiwary and Sudeep Chatterjee were battling it out in the middle after Bengal lost their openers just before lunch.
There was a stroke of luck for Manoj Tiwary as he was bowled when he dragged a harmless delivery well outside the line onto the stumps. Then before he began to walk towards the pavilion the standing umpire stopped him to check for the legality of the delivery. Replays on the big screen showed that bowler Chirag Jani had indeed overstepped and it was a no-ball. Watch the incident in the below clip.
The bowler was visibly dissapointed but he had only himself to blame. It was a huge reprieve for the batsman as he breathed a sigh of relief and continued to bat on from where he left off. The crowd also showed their frustration. The cameras also captured the bowling coach of Saurashtra being upset with his bowler.
Day 3 is the moving day in test cricket. In the ongoing Ranji Trophy finals, the game has moved more towards home team Saurashtra than the visitors Bengal. Bengal played a wicket less post lunch session but Manoj Tiwary was dismissed later in the day post tea.
Now the game is nicely poised with Bengal ending Day 3 at 134/3 still 291 runs behind Saurashtra’s total.