Anustup Majumdar turns out to be Bengal's saviour once again. This time, in the Vijay Hazare Trophy against Baroda at the Gymkhana ground in Hyderabad on Saturday.
Bowlers had done a decent job earlier to restrict Baroda to a modest 228 in 48.5 overs after Bengal opted to bowl first. In reply, Abishek Porel fell in the very first over off Hardik Pandya, but Anustup (99 not out off 106 balls), complemented by Sumanta Gupta (69 not out off 80 balls), delivered another quality innings to help Bengal to a convincing seven-wicket victory.
Bengal badly needed a win from this game after inclement weather forced them to share points against Tripura earlier in the week. With this victory, they have joined Madhya Pradesh on 10 points but are second in the Group E standings by virtue of net run rate.
At 71/3 in the 17th over, things were beginning to look ominous for Bengal. But Anustup, bringing his experience into play, treated each ball on its merit and went on to unleash 12 boundaries with a maximum.
The Bengal Ranji Trophy captain was well supported by Gupta, who was able to come up with a meaningful contribution for his team after a forgettable experience in the 2022-23 Ranji final against Saurashtra at Eden Gardens, where he was suddenly pushed up the order to open.
Importantly, Anustup and Gupta ensured they neutralised both Hardik (1/33 in 7 overs) and his brother captain Krunal Pandya (0/51 in 10 overs) during the run chase.
Among Bengal's bowlers, left-arm spinner Pradipta Pramanik (3/25), Sayan Ghosh (3/43) and Mukesh Kumar (2/37) did well.
Brief scores: Baroda 228 in 48.5 ovs (Shashwat Rawat 95; Pradipta Pramanik 3/25). Bengal 229/3 in 43 ovs (Anustup Majumdar 99 n.o., Sumanta Gupta 69 n.o.). Bengal won by 7 wickets.