Laxmi Ratan Shukla

Calcutta: Bengal may not be in Elite company in Ranji Trophy, but the Laxmi Ratan Shukla-led side is now rocking in limited overs cricket.

Shukla, whose job was on the line following the team’s relegation in the Ranji Trophy, led from the front with an excellent 59-ball 65 to take Bengal to the National One-dayers final in Visakhapatnam on Monday.

Batting first, Mumbai posted 249 for nine in their 50 overs, captain Amol Muzumdar (71) and opener Ajinkya Rahane (55) being the notable contributors.

Bengal chased down the target brilliantly with 26 balls and four wickets to spare. Sreevats Goswami provided Bengal with a solid platform with a watchful 48 and Shukla and Debabrata Das (55 not out) then took the fight beyond Mumbai’s control with rapid half-centuries.

Bengal will take on the winners of Tuesday’s semi-final between Saurashtra and Vidarbha. The final will take place on Thursday.

“It has been a terrific team effort. We have been consistent throughout the tournament and the execution of our plans have been spot-on,” Shukla said from Visakhapatnam.

Coach Bharat Arun was also all praise for the captain. “Laxmi led from the front and played a crucial innings. But there’s no room for complacency as we have still one game to go. We want to finish it in style,” he maintained.

Sourav Ganguly, meanwhile, wished the team luck in the final. The former India captain, now in Ahmedabad with the Team India squad, was informed about Bengal’s semi-final win by manager Samir Dasgupta.

Debabrata Das

There will be no practice for Shukla & Co. on Tuesday and some CAB officials, including president Prasun Mukherjee, are likely to be present in the final.

Mumbai got off to a decent start before Ranadeb Bose earned the breakthrough by removing Sahil Kukreja (25) in the ninth over.

Mumbai’s top order, led by the tournament’s leading run-scorer Rahane, continued dictating the terms, reaching 94 for one by the 19th over.

Left-arm spinner Iresh Saxena then dismissed Rahane for the first of his wickets (4/50). Once Muzumdar’s alliance with Avishek Nayar (32) threatened to blossom, Sourashish Lahiri struck, giving Bengal a much-needed boost to stage a comeback in the match.

Shib Shankar Paul then clean-bowled Rohit Sharma (1), who was Mumbai’s match winner in the quarter finals and wickets kept tumbling thereafter to leave them at a dicey 119 for 4.

Muzumdar anchored the innings with a patient 71, but those early setbacks meant that Mumbai were unable to accelerate towards the end. Only 63 runs came off the last 105 balls.

The strategy of promoting Sourashish to launch the innings with Sreevats didn’t yield result as Dhawal Kulkarni struck the latter plumb in front. Anustup Majumdar also departed quickly as Mumbai put early pressure on Bengal.

Sreevats and Manoj Tiwary (36) stemmed the rot but the duo were dismissed in back-to-back overs, sending the team in a tailspin with 110 for 4.

But Shukla and Debabrata ensured Bengal didn’t panic — something which characterised their journey in the Ranji Trophy Elite campaign — and they added 94 at more than a run-a-ball to set Bengal on course for the final.