Mayank Agarwal-Pujara pair adds 107 runs, India stretch overall lead to 405
Mumbai (PTI): Mayank Agarwal and Cheteshwar Pujara added insult to New Zealand's injuries with a 107-run opening stand as India took complete control of the second Test by reaching 142 for 2 at lunch on the third day, here.
India's overall lead is now a mammoth 405 runs and only one team can win this game from here with two days and two sessions left.
At the break, Shubman Gill, who hadn't come out to open after being hit on the wrist during the New Zealand innings, was batting on 17 with Virat Kohli (11) by his side.
Agarwal (62 off 109 balls) and Pujara (47 off 96 balls) made Ajaz Patel (2/77) look pretty ordinary although he now has a dozen wickets in his kitty.
But it was not before Agarwal and Pujara hit a flurry of boundaries in the morning session to put the pressure back on the bowlers.
Pujara, in fact, made a statement as he twice stepped out to identical flighted deliveries and whipped them through mid-wicket. This was the delivery that got him yorked in the first innings but he looked very comfortable in the second.
Agarwal was also in fine nick as he completed his second fifty plus score of the match with an effortless six over extra cover off Patel and then hit another boundary through the same area.
For a bowler, who already has 12 wickets in the match, Patel would feel that it's a trifle insulting that Agarwal hit him for a total of five sixes and even a defensive batter like Pujara lofted him for a maximum.
Agarwal was looking good for his second hundred of the game but in his bid to hit another six off Patel he could not reach to the pitch of the delivery and Will Young comfortably took the catch at long-off.
For Pujara this was the best chance to get a fifty and increase his confidence before the tour of South Africa.
He survived a strong DRS appeal but then one delivery that was pitched slightly fuller and turned, got his outside edge in slip fielder Ross Taylor's safe hands.
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Bengal: Over 55 pc turnout till 1 pm in repoll in 15 booths of 2 assembly seats
Kolkata (PTI): Over 55 per cent turnout was recorded till 1 pm in repoll in 15 booths of two assembly constituencies in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district on Saturday, an official said.
Voting was underway more or less peacefully at 11 polling stations of Magrahat Paschim assembly constituency and four in Diamond Harbour, where the EC ordered repoll a day ago, following reports of electoral malpractices.
However, at booth number 179 at Chanda Primary School of Diamond Harbour seat, the Trinamool Congress alleged that a specially abled voter and his mother were harassed by central forces. The alleged incident sparked protests by party workers and locals.
The TMC claimed that the voter's mother, who had entered the booth to assist him, and her son were detained for a considerable time by central forces over alleged rule violations.
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"TMC leaders Manmohini Biswas and Pratik Ur Rahman reached the spot and led the protests, with residents terming the action unwarranted harassment. The matter has been taken care of by our officials there," an official of the poll body said.
Polling was otherwise peaceful across 15 booths in the area, he added.
Voting began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm, the official said, adding that till 1 pm, the turnout was 55.57 per cent.
Magrahat Paschim registered 56.33 per cent voter turnout, while in Diamond Harbour, it was 54.9 per cent, a poll official stated.
Voting in these two assembly constituencies was held in the second phase of the state elections on April 29.
The repoll order was based on reports received from returning officers and observers of the two constituencies and "material circumstances", the Election Commission official said.
In Magrahat Paschim, TMC's Md Samim Ahamed Molla is pitted against BJP nominee Goursundar Ghosh, while Abdul Majid Halder of the Congress and ISF candidate Abdul Aziz Al Hassan are also in the fray.
TMC candidate Panna Lal Halder is contesting against Dipak Kumar Halder of the BJP in the Diamond Harbour seat. Goutam Bhattacharya of the Congress and CPI(M)'s Samar Naiya are among other candidates.
The BJP had alleged rampant electoral malpractices in certain polling stations of both the assembly seats under the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency, which is represented by TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
The EC had deputed its special observer, Subrata Gupta, to fact-check the allegations from the ground.
The poll panel will decide on repolling in the Falta assembly constituency on Saturday.
The West Bengal assembly elections were held in two phases -- April 23 and April 29 -- amid unprecedented security arrangements.
Counting of votes will take place on May 4.
