Bengal produced a commanding all-round performance to return to winning ways in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, defeating Chandigarh by six wickets with 14 balls to spare at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot on Monday. After winning the toss, Bengal opted to field, and Bengal's bowlers set the stage on fire. Mukesh Kumar’s fifer and Mohammad Shami’s three wickets helped Bengal to stop Chandigarh's run in 319 runs.
Manan Vohra set the tone of Chandigarh’s innings
Chandigarh posted a solid 319 in 48.2 overs, losing all wickets, riding on a captain’s knock from Manan Vohra, who scored a composed 122 off 127 deliveries, and a solid 67 off 54 balls from Sanyam Saini. However, their innings lost momentum in the death overs due to an exceptional spell from Mukesh Kumar. The seamer dismantled the lower order, picking up three wickets in the 48th over alone and finishing with his maiden five-wicket haul in List A cricket. His figures of 5 for 59 ensured Chandigarh could not complete their full quota of overs.
Team performance helped Bengal to get back in winning track
Chasing the huge target, Bengal constructed the innings confidently, reaching the target in 47.4 overs. Abhishek Porel, the young sensation, led the charge with his second List A century, hammering 106 off just 84 balls, decorated with 12 fours and two sixes. Anustup Majumdar added stability with a balanced 63 off 70 deliveries.
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Shahbaz Ahmed once again proved his value as an all-rounder, following up his bowling effort with an unbeaten 76 off 61 balls, featuring eight fours and a six, to guide Bengal to a win. Sumanta Gupta also continued his good batting from the Ranji, remained not out on 22 off 15 balls.
For Chandigarh, Jagjit Singh Sandhu, Rohit Dhanda, Nishank Birla, and Taranpreet Singh claimed a wicket each.
Mukesh Kumar was named Player of the Match. Mohammed Shami supported him well, claiming three wickets for 69 runs, including a maiden over, while Shahbaz Ahmed chipped in with two wickets. Akash Deep, Karan Lal, and List A debutant Vishal Bhati went wicketless but kept things tight in patches.
After opening the tournament with a win over Vidarbha and suffering a narrow loss to Baroda, this victory helped Bengal regain momentum. Bengal is now standing in 5th with 8 points in Elite Group B. They will next face Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday.
