Vijay Hazare Trophy: Bengal back to winnings ways

Abhimanyu Easwaran and Anustup Majumdar’s half-centuries and Arnab Nandi’s four-wicket haul helped Bengal record a convincing 82-run win over Jammu and Kashmir in an Elite Group-E match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy at the 22 Yards ground, Salt Lake, here on Saturday.

Asked to bat, Bengal scored a mammoth 368 for four and restricted Jammu and Kashmir to 286 to taste victory after two consecutive defeats.

After the early fall of Abhishek Raman, Abhimanyu (99, 105b, 11x4, 1x6) and Ritwik Roy Chowdhury (55, 62b, 7x4, 1x6) gathered 107 runs to lay a solid foundation. Abhimanyu was involved in another century partnership with captain Majumdar (92 n.o., 84b, 12x4).

READ: AS IT HAPPENED

Following the departure of Abhimanyu in the 38th over, Majumdar and Kaif Ahmed (42, 27b, 7x4, 1x6) switched gears to add 68 in seven overs. Shahbaz Ahmed’s cameo (48 n.o., 17b, 4x4, 4x6) further boosted Bengal’s score.

Jammu and Kashmir, which had a fine start thanks to openers Shubham Khajuria (44, 44b, 8x4) and Aadil Rashid (24), was jolted when it lost four wickets in six balls to be reduced to 127 for six.

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The collapse began with Mukesh Kumar dismissing Usman Pandit. Off-spinner Nandi, who had claimed Aadil earlier, bowled Henan Nazir (28) and had Shubham Pundir and Bandeep Singh leg-before in the space of four deliveries in the 25th over.

Rasool's (50, 42b, 4x4, 1x6) and Abid Mushtaq (68, 64b, 6x4, 3x6) fought in vain.