Agartala: After successful outings in the first two matches, senior pacer Mohammed Shami went wicketless as centurion Hanuma Vihari helped Tripura punch above their weight and inch closer to Bengal’s first innings total in their Group C Ranji Trophy match here on Monday.
At stumps on the third day, Tripura were 273 for seven with outstation star Vihari unbeaten on 121 and skipper Manisankar Murasingh batting on 42, the two having added 73 runs for the eighth wicket.
Former champions Bengal were bowled out for 336 in their first innings, leaving Tripura to trail the fancied visitors by 63 runs heading into the final day’s play.
Overnight at 336 for nine, Bengal were all out at the start of the day without the addition of any run, with pace spearhead Manisankar Murasingh and Rana Dutta picking up three wickets each for the home team. Bikramkumar Das chipped in with 2/16 from six overs.
Tripura were off to a disastrous start in their first innings as they slipped to 35 for four and then 53 for five, with medium pacer Mohammed Kaif inflicting maximum damage on the home team.
Kaif returned with excellent figures of 4/53 in 19 overs.
However, out-of-favour India all-rounder Vihari came to his team’s rescue with a dogged hundred, which contained 17 fours and a six.
In Jaipur: Yashasvi Jaiswal’s second fifty of the match took Mumbai to 89 for no loss in their second innings after Deepak Hooda helped Rajasthan reach 617 for six in their first essay, giving the hosts a massive 363-run first innings lead.
Hooda, who completed his hundred on day two, went on to score 248 off 335 balls to push record Ranji champions Mumbai further back in the game.
Kartik Sharma (139) also scored a hundred for Rajasthan.
At stumps on Day 3, Jaiswal was batting on 56 off as many balls alongside Musheer Khan who was on 32 off 76, trailing Rajasthan by 274 runs.