Tripura dominated the second day of the Ranji Trophy cricket match against Goa on Saturday, thanks to their batsmen and bowlers.
After Sridam Pal scored a century on the first day, Tripura captain Wriddhiman Saha played a brilliant knock, but fell short of a hundred by three runs.
The Tripura bowlers then backed up their batsmen’s efforts by reducing Goa to 53/4 at the end of the day.
Goa’s batting crumbled under the pressure of a fiery spell from Abhijit Sarkar in the late afternoon.
Goa still need 281 runs to avoid the follow-on, with only six wickets remaining.
Tripura will be confident of enforcing the follow-on if their bowlers can maintain their intensity on the third day.
Earlier, resuming on 261/4, Tripura posted a massive total of 484 runs in their first innings at the MBB Stadium.
Wriddhiman Saha, Satish Ganesh, and Mani Shankar Murasing were the main contributors for Tripura, scoring half-centuries each.
Satish and Saha added 68 runs for the fifth wicket, before Satish was dismissed for 73 off 159 balls.
Saha then partnered with vice-captain Mani Shankar Murasingh, who scored a quick 50 off 58 balls, including five fours and one six.
The duo put on 91 runs for the seventh wicket.
Saha missed out on a well-deserved century, getting out for 97 off 154 balls.
Bikram Debnath gave the finishing touch to the innings, scoring 35 off 70 balls, including four fours and one six.
For Goa, Mohit Redkar was the most successful bowler, taking four wickets for 74 runs. Lakshya E Garg, Arjun Tendulkar, and Vishal Prabhu Desai shared four wickets among them.
In response, Goa had a shaky start, losing four wickets for 53 runs in 22 overs. Tripura’s bowlers kept them on the back foot, with Abhijit Sarkar being the star performer, taking three wickets for 13 runs.
Snehal Kutahankar was the top scorer for Goa with 15 runs off 24 balls, including three fours. Swesh S Pradhan made 13 off 33 balls, including two fours.
Tripura have a huge lead of 431 runs at the close of play on the second day.