KOLKATA: Now, it's just a matter of time before Bengal make their third straight Ranji Trophy semifinals. At stumps on Day 3, Jharkhand were reeling at 162 for seven in their second innings, having managed to gain a slender seven-run lead after Bengal were bowled out for 328 runs in the morning at the Eden Gardens here on Thursday.
Shahbaz Ahmed (81, 2/38), who did not have any role to play on the first two days, hogged the limelight — first with the bat and then with the ball — to put Bengal on brink of victory. The way Bengal bowlers dominated, at one stage it looked like the match would be over inside three days. It got stretched to the fourth day mainly because of some sloppy Bengal fielding and resilient batting by Aryaman Sen (64).
