Bengal stormed into the knockouts of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, topping Group A after defeating Rajasthan by seven wickets of their last league recreation on the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot on Thursday.
Chasing 154, Abishek Porel performed an excellent knock of 78 off 48 balls earlier than being dismissed within the fifteenth over by Kamlesh Nagarkoti. Nonetheless, it was too late for Rajasthan to mount a comeback, leaving its qualification hopes hanging by a thread regardless of having gained the primary 5 video games of the league.
Porel began the chase with a straight six over bowler Aniket Choudhary’s head. His opening companion, Karan Lal, additionally discovered the boundary with a sq. drive earlier than he was caught at level off the very subsequent ball.
Sudip Gharami joined Porel, and the duo made certain the bowlers couldn’t settle right into a rhythm, both by taking part in deep within the crease or charging down the observe. Porel hit 4 sixes and 7 fours, whereas Gharami anchored the innings completely. Even when two fast wickets fell, captain Gharami stored his composure, guiding Bengal to its sixth win with an unbeaten 50 off 45 balls, securing the victory with 9 balls to spare.
After opting to bowl, Bengal had Rajasthan in disarray from the beginning. Mohammed Shami received the ball to maneuver away from the right-handers and struck along with his second supply, getting Abhijeet Tomar caught lbw.
With the ball conserving low, Deepak Hooda and Bharat Sharma needed to see off the primary two overs. Hooda lofted Shami over mid-off to deliver up Rajasthan’s first boundary, and Bharat adopted with an beautiful cowl drive for 4.
Bharat tried to tackle the brand new bowler, Sayan Ghosh, with a lofted drive, however Shami timed his leap at mid-off completely, taking a surprising one-handed catch. Within the following over, Hooda charged at Shahbaz Ahmed however was caught at long-off as Rajasthan misplaced three wickets contained in the PowerPlay for simply 30.
Kartik Sharma and Mahipal Lomror took their time, nudging the ball round for the following three overs. When Bengal launched Pradipta Pramanik within the tenth over, Kartik welcomed him with a slog sweep for six off the primary ball.
Nonetheless, Bengal’s spinners stored up the stress within the center overs, and proactive fielding made run-scoring tough for the Rajasthan batters. Within the fifteenth over, Lomror greeted Mohammad Kaif with a six over midwicket, and Kartik adopted swimsuit, clearing the boundary over tremendous leg.Â
Each batters have been dismissed within the following overs whereas attempting to speed up. Lomror was caught off Writtick Chatterjee, and Kartik’s stumps have been rattled after he missed a slog sweep in opposition to Ahmed.
Shami returned to bowl within the demise overs, cleansing up Shubham Garhwal with a yorker, earlier than hurrying Deepak Chahar, who top-edged a supply straight to the wicketkeeper. Rajasthan may solely handle a subpar 153 for 9 ultimately.