Anoop Pai denies Bengal a sure win

In what was only his third first-class match, Anoop Pai showed he has it in him, taking Hyderabad to the shores of safety at the Eden Gardens with a defiant century. The unbeaten 119 from the young left-hander - his maiden first-class ton - denied Bengal a ‘sure’ victory in the Elite Group B tie.

Tottering at 86 for three after following on, still 148 runs away from making Bengal bat again, Hyderabad finished the final day on 302 for six. Bengal had to settle for the three points they garnered by virtue of the first innings lead while Hyderabad got a point.

The day belonged to southpaw Pai, who showed great patience during the 262-ball knock. It lasted over six hours. Strong off the backfoot, Pai was ready to wait for the loose balls to hit the 13 boundaries in his innings.

SCOREBOARD:

Bengal: 1st Innings 461.
Hyderabad: 1st Innings 227.
Hyderabad: 2nd innings (Overnight 86-3):
A Pai not out 119
A. Yadav c sub b Lodhgar 53
A. Shinde c Ahmed b Lahiri 33
H. Ahmed c Saha b Lodhgar 4
M. Arjun not out 8.
Extras (b-1, lb-5, nb-7) 13.
Total (For 6 wickets; 115 overs) 302:
Bowling: Bose 18-6-45-0, Paul 15-3-46-0, Lahiri 31-4-100-1, Lodhgar 40-12-68-5, Tewari 7-0-23-0, Mazumdar 3-0-10-0, Shukla 1-0-4-0.