Bengal lost a crucial match against Hyderabad on Tuesday in the Vijay Hazare Trophy as Mohammad Siraj outclassed Abhimanyu Easwaran and Company with pace and swing, taking four wickets in a match. Anustup Majumdar, who played his 100th List A match in the previous match, gave a tough fight alongside Shahbaz Ahmed. Bengal is now standing in third in the standings in the Elite Group B with 16 points, as well as Vidarbha, but they hold the second place as they have a better run rate. Both team is going to play their last group match on 8th January. To qualify in the second round, Bengal don’t just need to win the match; they also need to do better on their run rate to surpass Vidarbha. Bengal will have to face the table topper, Uttar Pradesh, in the final group clash. Notably, Bengal was disqualified from the group stage in the SMAT. They will surely look forward to changing their record.
ALSO READ । 'Hook shot of highest calibre', says South African commentator as Vaibhav Sooryavanshi hits monster six
Match summary
Winning the toss, Bengal opted for bowling. In reply, Aman Rao hit a blistering double hundred with 12 fours and 13 sixes with a strike rate of 129 .87. Hyderabad openers formed a 104-run partnership. Aman Rao played till the last of the innings and completed his double hundred with a six. Rahul Singh, along with captain Tilak Varma and Pragnay Reddy, hammered the star-studded Bengal bowling line-up and helped the team to set a total of 352 runs. Shami took three wickets, giving 70 runs in 10 overs. Akash Deep and Mukesh Kumar went wicketless and conceded massive, 78 runs in 8 overs and 55 runs in 7 overs respectively.
ALSO READ । A new page unfolds in Mustafizur row as BCCI decision exposes deeper cracks in India–Bangladesh cricket ties
In the second innings, Mohammad Siraj struck early to dismantle Bengal's batting. Sumit Nag, who made his List A debut replacing Abhishek Porel, got out in just 10 runs. Easwaran also remained unable to give a start. Sudip Gharami also got out in a duck by a jabber by Siraj. Shahbaz Ahmed scored a century to keep Bengal's hope alive, along with the forty-year-old Anustup, who hit 59 runs.
Bengal got all out in 245 runs, and Aman Rao was named Man of the Match.
