File Pic: Aditya Sarwate
The left-arm spinner’s wicket-to-wicket bowling gave the hosts early advantage as Bengal were reduced to 172/6 on a rain-curtailed opening day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group ‘C’ match at the KCA Stadium, Mangalapuram, Kerala, on Monday. The hosts came back into the match late when Gharami (36) was caught by Abhishek Nair off pacer Basil N at the penultimate over of the day. Only 50 overs of play were possible on the day after the umpires called for stumps due to bad light.
Bengal lost their skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran ealy when the opener edged MD Nidheesh to wicketkeeper Mohammed Azharuddin in the fifth over of the day. After playing for Chhattisgarh for one season, Aditya Sarwate is making his presence felt in every game on deciding to return to Kerala this time. Kerala captain Vishnu Vinood had little hesitation in putting the rivals in on winning the toss after the whole first session of play was washed out.