Delhi still in trouble despite Bisht's ton

Kolkata:

Delhi wicketkeeper Puneet Bisht stood tall with an unbeaten century to shore up Delhi in their reply to Bengal's huge first innings total in the Ranji Trophy Super League Group B match on Thursday.

Bisht's unbeaten 103 was the cornerstone of Delhi's reply as the visitors reached 348 for seven in reply to Bengal's first innings total of 522 -- still 24 runs short of avoiding a follow-on.

At close on the penultimate day, Bisht was unbeaten on 103, an innings coming from 163 balls with 13 boundaries and one over-boundary. Giving the him support was pacer Ishant Sharma, unbeaten on 16 from 27 balls including three fours.

Trailing by 174 runs with just three wickets in hand, Delhi's chances of taking a first innings lead and make the quarterfinals cut, however, appear slim.

Resuming at their overnight score of 68 for two, the Delhi duo of Mithun Manhas and Aditya Jain put up a brave front as Bengal medium-pacers struggled to break the third wicket partnership that yielded 145 runs.

Bengal's bowling option was limited as captain Laxmi Ratan Shukla, who was hit on his rib cage by a Pradeep Sangwan beamer, could not bowl his medium pacers.

Left-arm spinner Iresh Saxena gave the first breakthrough dismissing Jain with the team's score of 155. Jain made 56 (118 balls, 4x8).