Bengal displayed impressive resilience in their batting against Kerala during the Vijay Hazare Trophy. A strong performance by Akash Yadav and Sayak Jana enabled the Bengal U-16 team to secure a first innings lead against Kerala in the Vijay Merchant Trophy Elite held in Cuttack on Friday.
Batting in the second innings, Bengal batter Akash posted a niche 69 runs not out, and Sayak Jana also made impress with the bat, as he posted 43 runs. Captain Rajesh Modal remained unable to convert his good start as he got out on 24 runs.
Bengal is currently in fourth place in Elite Group C, having earned four points from two matches that both ended in draws. Kerala holds the third place with 7 points.
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Match Summary
In Match 38 of the Vijay Merchant Trophy Elite 2025-26, played between Bengal and Kerala at the DRIEMS Ground in Cuttack, Kerala won the toss and elected to bat first. By the end of Day 2, Kerala scored 178 runs, losing all wickets in 101. 2 overs. Dheeraj Gopinath scored a solid 62 runs in 226 balls for them. Vishal George and Adithyan S V also contributed with the bat, scoring 23 and 37 runs each.
For Bengal, Prabin Chhetri and Triparna Samanta took 3 wickets, and Utshav Shukla also claimed two wickets to his name.
After that, Bengal came to bat and posted 193 runs, getting a lead of 15 runs. Bengal's innings lacked stability as early wickets put the batting side under pressure. Opener Chirantan Sahoo and Shreyam Ghosh departed early. Captain Rajesh Mondal also failed to convert his good start. The standout performance came from Sayak Jana and Akash Yadav, who formed a 99-run partnership in 207 balls, which helped Bengal to take the lead, but the fall of regular wickets restricted the total.
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For Kerala, Adithyan S V took five wickets in 32 overs with an economy of impressive 1.69 runs per over. Kerala is now batting in the second innings, scoring 5 runs in 2.5 overs, losing one wicket.
