Anoof Pai (119 not out) scored his maiden first class hundred as Hyderabad salvaged a draw and picked a point from their Ranji Trophy Super League Group B encounter against Bengal at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday.
Starring down the barrel after following-on, the visitors showed the right intent for the first time on the final day of the match. The overnight pair of Pai and Arjun Yadav, resuming at 86 for 3, a good 148 runs behind, added 68 runs more without taking any risks, before Yadav's patience gave way to a poor shot. His square-cut off Murtaza Lodhgar was gleefully accepted by substitute Sourav Sarakar at short point.
But if that was the wicket Bengal were looking for, they were in for more trouble. Pai joined hands with Amol Shinde to frustrate the Bengal bowlers. Both Sourasish Lahiri and Lodhgar were guilty of pitching the ball short and the Hyderabadi batsmen had no problem in handling them.
Bengal skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla's gamble of bowling Manoj Tewari also did not pay off. Shinde got out before the tea break, Safi Ahmed latching on to a bat-pad effort at silly point off Lahiri.
However, the dead strip offered nothing to the bowlers and frustration piled.
Tempers got the better of the home team as they got into a mild altercation with Pai and debutant wicketkeeper Habeeb Ahmed over "time wasting". Both the captains played down the matter and so did the two umpires, S K Tarapore and V D Nerukar.
"All these things happen in the heat of the moment. It was nothing serious. None of us are going to report or do anything further about it, '' Tarapore said.
The match was called off early with no chance of a result and Hyderbad went home with one point, while the hosts had to be satisfied with three.
Scorecard
Bengal (1st innings): 461
Hyderbad (1st innings): 227
Hyderabad (2nd innings) (overnight 86/3)
D S Manohar c Paul b Lodhgar 7
D B Ravi Teja c Arindam Das b Lodhgar 47
VVS Laxman c Lahiri b Lodhgar 18
S A Pai not out 119
A S Yadav c sub (SS Sarkar) b Lodhgar 53
A Shinde c Safi Ahmed b Lahiri 33
H Ahmed c Saha b Lodhgar 4
M P Arjun not out 8
Extras: (b 1, lb 5, nb 7) 13
Total: (For 6 wickets in 115 overs) 302
Fall of wickets: 1-37, 2-71, 3-81, 4-154, 5-226, 6-256.
Bowling: R Bose 18-6-45-0, S S Paul 15-3-46-0, S S Lahiri 31-4-100-1, M Y Lodhgar 40-12-68-5, M Tiwary 7-0-23-0, A P Majumdar 3-0-10-0, L R Shukla 1-0-4-0.
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