Kolkata: Writtick Chatterjee registered a scintillating double hundred, his first in first-class cricket as Bengal edge closer to a semi-final berth as they continued to dictate terms against Gujarat on Sunday.
The right-hander, who replaced vice-captain Sudip Chatterjee played a brilliant 213-run knock that consisted of 23 fours and one six and stitched a crucial 121-run stand with Abhimanyu Easwaran after which the latter fell for a classy 114. Writtick also put up a 166-run partnership with skipper Manoj Tiwary who made a crucial 59, and also added 88 runs with Sreevats Goswami (32).
The 25-year-old who made just four runs in the first innings capitalised on the opportunity and justified the faith shown in him and his abilities by the team management as he dominated the Gujarat bowlers and helped Bengal gain a massive 613-run lead, that has, more or less assured Bengal of a place in the semi-final.
For the defending champions, Ishwar Chaudhary was the best bowler with two wickets while Rujul Bhatt and Samit Goel took one each.
In Nagpur, Mumbai were defeated by former champions Karnataka as the Aditya Tare led side succumbed to an innings and 20 runs defeat. Karnataka, thus became the first team to make it to the semis despite a resistant Suryakumar Yadav (108) who battled it out but failed to take Mumbai past 377.
Summarised scores-
Jaipur: Bengal 354 all out and 483/4 (Writtick Chatterjee 213 n.o, Abhimanyu Easwaran 114; Ishwar Chaudhary 2/70) lead Gujarat 224 all out by 613 runs.
Nagpur: Mumbai 173 all out and 377 all out (Suryakumar Yadav 108, Shivam Dubey 71; Krishnappa Gowtham 6/104) by an innings and 20 runs.
Vijayawada: Delhi 405 all out and 8/0 (Vikas Tokas 4 n.o, Kunal Chandela 5 n.o; Ishwar Pandey 0/0) need 209 runs to win against Madhya Pradesh 338 all out and 283 all out.
Surat: Vidarbha 246 all out and 431/6 (Faiz Fazal 119, Apoorv Wankhede 107; Jalaj Saxena 3/106) lead Kerala 176 by 501 runs.