Mukesh Kumar took his maiden List A five-for and Abishek Porel scored a brisk 106 as Bengal registered a fine six-wicket win over Chandigarh in their Vijay Hazare Trophy group B clash in Rajkot on Monday. Bengal have now won two of their three matches so far in the competition.
Opting to bowl first, Mukesh’s late burst on a flat Niranjan Shah Stadium pitch helped Bengal gain some momentum towards the end of the Chandigarh innings. From 293/4 in 44 overs, Chandigarh lost six wickets for only 26 to be all out for 319 in 48.2 overs, with Mukesh striking four times and Mohammed Shami (3/69) taking two wickets.
Thereafter, Porel ensured to cash in on the momentum, taking Bengal off to a flier as they knocked off 88 runs in the first 10 overs.
Complementing Porel, who finished with 12 boundaries and two maximums in his 84-ball innings, senior pro Anustup Majumdar (63) and in-form spinner all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed (76 not out off 61 balls) also delivered as Bengal eventually crossed their opponents’ total with 14 balls remaining.
Shahbaz (2/51 in nine overs) had done his bit with the ball too in conditions that were extremely in favour of batsmen.
Jurel shines
Keeper-batter Dhruv Jurel blazed away to 160 off just 101 balls in Uttar Pradesh’s 54-run win over Baroda in another group B game in Rajkot.
This was a timely innings from Jurel ahead of the selection of India’s squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against New Zealand.
In group D, Delhi, without Virat Kohli, rode on Priyansh Arya’s 78 and Tejasvi Dahiya’s 53 to chase down 321 and beat Saurashtra by three wickets. Kohli, though, is likely to be available for Delhi’s January 6 game against Railways.
Brief scores: Chandigarh 319 in 48.2 overs (Manan Vohra 122; Mukesh Kumar 5/59). Bengal 320/4 in 47.4 ovs (Abishek Porel 106, Shahbaz Ahmed 76 n.o.). Bengal won by 6 wickets.
