In a contest that was in focus because of Mohammed Shami’s comeback, left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed hogged the limelight with a four-wicket haul and propelled Bengal to a thrilling 11-run win over Madhya Pradesh at the Holkar Stadium here on Saturday.
On the final day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group-C match, with the host needing 188 runs and the visitors requiring seven wickets for victory, the momentum swung from side to side before Bengal held its nerve to clinch the cliffhanger.
Madhya Pradesh, resuming from 150 for three, stuttered in the first 45 minutes as the Bengal seamers kept it tight.
Shami uprooted Rajat Patidar’s off stump off the third ball of the day and his brother Mohammed Kaif had southpaw Harpreet Singh Bhatia brilliantly caught by substitute wicketkeeper Shakir Habib Gandhi – who was put on duty on day three after Wriddhiman Saha hurt his finger – to give Bengal an upper-hand.
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However, with the pitch easing out, skipper Shubham Sharma (61, 116b, 6x4), who had narrow saves and scored boundaries on both sides, and Venkatesh Iyer (53, 95b, 8x4), who dominated the leg side, gelled well and showed patience to score half-centuries. Their 94-run partnership kept Madhya Pradesh in the contest.
Venkatesh was caught at short cover off Rohit Kumar and Shubham was trapped lbw off Shahbaz in quick succession in the post-lunch period.
Aryan Pandey (22) and Saransh Jain (32) withstood the pressure exerted by the Bengal bowlers to gather 62 and take their team closer to the target.
Switching ends, Shahbaz landed the ball in the rough to have Saransh caught at forward short-leg as Madhya Pradesh took tea at 323 for eight.
In the eight-ball-old final session, Shahbaz, named player-of-the-match for his four wickets and 92 runs, relied on his accuracy to have Aryan lbw. Shami had Kumar Kartikeya caught at third man before raising his hands in joy.
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