Agartala, Jun 16, 2022, TRIPURATIMES Desk
Agartala June 16: The junior sports minister of West Bengal, Manoj Tiwary, continued his rich vein of form in the Ranji Trophy 2022 – scoring his second successive hundred on Thursday (June 16). Tiwary completed his 29th first-class century off 205 balls with 12 boundaries on Day 3 of their semifinal clash against Madhya Pradesh in Alur. However, Tiwary was dismissed soon after completing his century, scoring a brilliant 102 off 211 balls before being dismissed by Saransh Jain.
Tiwary’s dismissal ended a 183-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Shahbaz Ahmed. The Royal Challengers Bangalore all-rounder Shahbaz also scored a century – 116 off 209, lifting Bengal from 54/5 in reply to MP’s 341. Bengal, however, are still under danger of conceding the first-innings lead and were struggling at 268/9 with Shahbaz back in the pavilion.
Meanwhile, former Bengal captain Tiwary displayed a note sharing his love for wife Susmita and his family for the support they had shown for him. Tiwary had also scored 74 and 136 in the two innings in the Ranji Trophy 2022 quarterfinals last week.
Earlier, Tiwary, veteran of many-a-fightback, in company of utility man Shahbaz Ahmed, kept Bengal alive as they reached 197 for five after a top-order collapse against Madhya Pradesh, on the second day of the Ranji Trophy semi-final.
At stumps, Tiwary (84 batting, 182 balls) played his best knock of this season, while Shahbaz (72 batting, 149 balls) was equally defiant as they joined forces at a precarious 54 for five and added 143 runs for the unbroken sixth wicket. This was after a 64-run seventh wicket stand between centurion Himanshu Mantri (165, 372 balls) and Puneet Datey (33) took Madhya Pradesh to a more than respectable first inning score of 341. Mukesh Kumar (4/66) was Bengal's best bowler by a distance.
On a track where Bengal left-arm spinners Shahbaz (3/86 in 20 overs) and his fellow spinner Pradipta Pramanik (1/50 in 14 overs) failed to trouble Mantri, who hit 19 fours and a six, MP coach Chandrakant Pandit's ploy of using Mumbai Indians spinner Kumar Kartikeya (25-9-43-2) first up with the new ball, just before lunch, proved to be a masterstroke.