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East Bengal's Satyaki Dutta scored a stunning century to help the Red and Gold Ultras post 310/6 on day 1 of the Kolkata Derby in C.A.B. First Division Championship semi-final on Thursday at Videocon Ground.
Game in balance despite Satayki's ton
East Bengal captain Writtick Chatterjee won the toss and decided to bat first in a high-voltage match like the Kolkata derby, where winning the bragging rights is more than anything. But, his decision was struck by an unfortunate run out of opener Abhisek Das, who was set on 26 off 44 balls.
But post the first wicket, Arindam Ghosh and Satyaki Dutta, East Bengal's highest run scorer last season, took the initiative to put up a solid platform for the other batters to cash in.
Satyaki Dutta returned to the dressing room after a great knock of 107 off 137 balls. Vikas Singh broke the 162-run partnership for Mohun Bagan to make a comeback in the match.
At 194/2, East Bengal were all set to put up a huge score in the first inning. But Mohun Bagan struck back with back-to-back wickets. Vikash Singh dismissed East Bengal captain Writtick Chatterjee, and just when East Bengal tried to build another big partnership, Sourav Halder dismantled Arindam Ghosh's stumps after his 78 off 229 balls.
Agniv Pan tried to score some quick runs and bring the momentum to East Bengal, but Halder dismissed him after 21 off 27 balls to bring the game in balance. Former Mumbai Indians batter Amitoze Singh also departed after 8 off 17, and East Bengal now will depend on Sandipan Das and Shreyan Chakraborty to take them over 400 on day 2.
Sandipan Das is currently unbeaten on 45 off 86 balls while Shreyan is batting on 8 off 19. For Mohun Bagan, Vikash Singh was the pick of the bowlers with 45/2 in 21 overs.
In the other semi-final at J.U. 2nd Campus Ground in Salt Lake, Bhowanipur dominated Kalighat bowlers by scoring 348/4 on day 1. Bhowanipur captain Abhimanyu Easwaran won the toss and decided to bat first. And, he made sure he himself proved his decision right.
Abhishek Raman (41 off 63) gave a solid opening start with his Bengal opening partner Easwaran. But Kalighat made a quick comeback in the match after dismissing Jayojit Basu on a duck.
Post that, it was all about the 243-run partnership between Abhimanyu Easwaran and Shakir Habib Gandhi. Easwaran returned to the dressing room after a solid 149 off 208 balls. Meanwhile, Shakir Habib Gandhi, who had scored an unbeaten 168 in the quarter-final, continued his form with a 119 from 171 balls.
Vivek Singh and Arindam Ghosh are at the crease for Bhowanipur at the moment after the end of Day 1. Durgesh Kumar Dubey and Arun Chaprana picked up two wickets each for Kalighat.