Pagnis, Bangar give Railways good start

Exploiting the home advantage to the maximum, Railways' openers had little difficulty negotiating the Bengal attack and helped their team reach a comfortable 129 for one on a truncated first day, in the Ranji Trophy semi-final, in Delhi, on Wednesday.

On a day when only 44 overs were bowled due to a slippery outfield, Amit Pagnis and Sanjay Bangar kept their heads down and stuck to basics to ensure Railways stayed on course towards a good first innings score.

Left-handed Pagnis was unbeaten on 60 at close of play. He put on 124 runs for the first wicket with Bangar, who fell short of his half-century by just two runs after Railways had won the toss and elected to bat.

At stumps, T P Singh (2) was batting with Pagnis.

It was Sourav Ganguly who provided ample excitement on an otherwise lacklustre day. Not only did he open the bowling attack, but he completed 13 overs in three spells and also got the only breakthrough for his team.

Just when the Bengal bowlers were beginning to get frustrated by the patient Railway openers, Ganguly seduced Bangar to play a rash shot, the only one of the innings, and the attempted hook resulted in Sourashish Lahiri taking a simple catch at long leg.

Bangar looked in good nick, smacking six well-struck fours in his 48-run knock that came off 125 balls.

Mail Cricket Editor