The southpaw duo of Shahbaz Ahmed and debutant Abhishek Porel scored magnificent half-centuries as Bengal scripted an unbelievable turnaround to record a morale-boosting four-wicket win over Baroda in its Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match at the Barabati Stadium here on Sunday.
Requiring 203 more from the target of 349 on the fourth and final day, Bengal sealed victory when Shahbaz (71 not out, 100b, 7x4) pulled Dhruv Patel for a four towards the fag end of the second session, minutes before a bout of heavy showers lashed the venue.
In fact, Bengal escaped adversities on more than one occasion.
Resuming from 146 for two, it overcame the fall of overnight batter and its captain Abhimanyu Easwaran to Dhruv in the opening over of the day.
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Sudip Chatterjee and Anustup Majumdar, who began from 22, saw off 12 overs before Abhimanyu Singh dismissed both in the space of three deliveries.
At 176 for five inside the first 75 minutes, Bengal was in a spot of bother as Baroda enthusiastically pushed for victory.
However, Manoj Tiwary (37, 61b, 5x4) and Shahbaz carried on responsibly and added valuable 66 runs. Tiwary, who was let off on 10, punished the loose deliveries to release pressure. Shahbaz gave him good company.
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Bad light and some drizzle forced an early lunch break.
Bengal lost Tiwary to Abhimanyu when it was still 107 away from the target.
Shahbaz, who played lovely cuts to get his boundaries, underlined his role as a finisher as he guided the young Abhishek in the clinical run chase. Shahbaz was deservedly named the man-of-the-match.
A natural stroke player, under-19 World Cupper Abhishek – who regrouped himself after being caught off an Abhimanyu no-ball on 21 – displayed his exceptional timing through some exquisite drives and cuts to score his maiden half-century (53, 70b, 7x4).
The win helped Bengal redeem its pride, after facing the humiliation of being bowled out for its seventh lowest aggregate of 88 runs in the first innings, and gather full points.
“Fabulous show of character from the boys in difficult conditions. Shahbaz was great and Abhishek played his natural game under stress,” said Bengal coach Arun Lal.
The scores:
Baroda -- 1st innings: 181
Bengal -- 1st innings: 88
Baroda -- 2nd innings: 255
Bengal -- 2nd innings: Sudip Gharami b Sheth 27, Abhimanyu Easwaran c J.K. Singh b Dhruv 79, Writtick Chatterjee c Mitesh b Dhruv 0, Anustup Majumdar c Pratyush b Abhimanyu 33, Sudip Chatterjee lbw b Abhimanyu 18, Manoj Tiwary c Shivalik b Abhimanyu 37, Shahbaz Ahmed (not out) 71, Abhishek Porel (not out) 53, Extras (b-9, lb-19, w-2, nb-2) 32, Total (for six wkts, in 91.3 overs) 350
Fall of wickets: 1-89, 2-90, 3-147, 4-175, 5-176, 6-242
Baroda bowling: Meriwala 26-5-78-0, Sheth 25-2-88-1, Abhimanyu 17-0-73-3, Bhargav 6-0-23-0, Dhruv 16.3-1-54-2, Krunal 1-0-6-0.
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