Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024-25: Shahbaz smashes ton as Bengal beats defending champion Punjab by four wickets

Punjab hoped to turn the tide after Mayank Markande got Gharami out in the 14th over, but Shahbaz continued to find boundaries at will and helped Bengal finish the game with an over to spare.

Bengal’s Shahbaz Ahmad celebrates his century during Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy between Bengal and Punjab at Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot on Saturday November 23, 2024. | Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI

Shahbaz Ahmed’s unbeaten century stole the limelight from Mohammed Shami’s much anticipated white-ball return, leading Bengal to a four-wicket win against defending champion Punjab in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy’s first round of the group ‘A’ fixture at Niranjan Shah Stadium here on Saturday.

Shahbaz had the sparse crowd on its feet as he smacked a counter-attacking 100 off 49 balls to complete the 180-run chase after Punjab had Bengal struggling at 10/4 inside four overs.

The left-hander attacked Abhishek Sharma (three for 37) early, before taking Gurnoor Brar to the cleaners. Shahbaz added 110 runs for the fifth wicket with captain Sudip Gharami, who scored 43 off 31 balls.

Punjab hoped to turn the tide after Mayank Markande got Gharami out in the 14th over, but Shahbaz continued to find boundaries at will and helped Bengal finish the game with an over to spare.

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Earlier, Punjab began its title defence with a six off the first ball - Abhishek came down the track and hit Shami over covers. He then picked Shami’s length ball for another maximum in the same over.

Abhishek’s quick 18 off 8 ended as he chipped Kanishk Seth’s length ball straight to covers. But Punjab continued to muscle the ball in the PowerPlay with Prabhsimran Singh and Anmolpreet Singh at the crease. Shahbaz gave a much-needed breakthrough as he had Prabhsimran caught at long-on in the seventh over, ending a 57-run alliance.

Although Anmolpreet did continue to hit some powerful shots, Bengal spinners gradually controlled the scoring rate. And it was Anmolpreet’s run out in the 11th over that triggered Punjab’s collapse.

Pradipta Pramanik got Naman Dhir out, Writtick Chatterjee removed Sanvir Singh and Mayank Markande, and Karan Lal claimed three including the wicket of Ramandeep Singh.

Nehal Wadhera (28 off 26) threatened to take Punjab past the 200-run mark but Shami had him caught in the deep. Arshdeep though slammed two sixes as Punjab finished on 179, which wasn’t enough.

Result

Punjab 179 all out in 19.4 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 35, Anmolpreet Singh 39, Karan Lal 3/23) lost to Bengal 181/6 in 19 overs (Shahbaz Ahmed 100 n.o., Sudip Gharami 43, Abhishek Sharma 3/37)