Manoj Tiwary staked his claim for a place in the Indian squad hitting an unbeaten 147 to guide Bengal to a respectable 289 for five on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match against Hyderabad at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday.
Tiwary, who scored 65 for India green in the Challenger Trophy, hit 14 fours and two sixes off 111 balls to score his fifth Ranji century. He remained not out along with debutant Wriddhiman Saha (34) when the stumps were drawn after 95 overs.
After Bengal skipper Laxmi Ratan Shukla decided to bat, Tiwary, who looked comfortable against medium pacers and spinners alike, plundered runs at will. He stayed at the wicket for 213 minutes to play 248 balls and his 147 included 19 hittings to the fence besides two sixes.
Bengal lost opener A S Das to B L Mohan with the total reading 45 in the 19th over of the day and the hosts lost another wicket 22 runs later before Tiwary came to the crease and steadied the Bengal innings.
Tiwary was involved with two useful partnerships of 59 runs and 95 runs with A P Mazumdar and S Ahmed for the third and fourth wickets respectively, before he was joined by Wriddhiman Saha.
Bengal First innings
A Chakrabarty c R Teja b P Ojha 25
A Das lbw b L Mohan 25
A Mazumdar c S Ahmed b M P Arjun 25
M Tiwary batting 147
S Ahmed c D Manohar b A Shinde 14
L Shukla c A Pai b A Shinde 0
Wriddhiman Saha batting 34
Extras (NB 2, LB 12, B 5) 19
Total (for 5 wickets in 95 overs) 289
Fall of wickets: 1/45, 2/67, 3/126, 4/221, 5/221
Bowling: M P Arjun 9-2-24-1, S M Shiab 11-3-22-0, P Ojha 33-10-100-0, L Mohan 25-3-71-1, A Shinde 16-1-53-2, R Teja 1-0-2-0
