Saurashtra beat Bengal by nine wickets in Ranji final, clinch second title

Left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat returned a match haul of nine wickets, together with 6/85 in the second innings, as Saurashtra thrashed Bengal by nine wickets in the summit conflict to clinch their second Ranji Trophy title right here on Sunday.

Having given away a giant first innings lead of 230 runs, Bengal, who had been in a single day 169/4 in their second essay, folded for 241, handing the guests a mere 12 runs goal to win the ultimate.

Saurashtra misplaced their opening batter Jay Gohil (0) off the bowling of Akash Deep however ultimately went previous the goal, reaching 14 for 1 in 2.4 overs, to wrap up the match with sooner or later and two full classes to spare.

Saurashtra’s earlier triumph was in 2019-20 season once they defeated Bengal on the idea of first innings lead. In the final 10 seasons, they’ve made the ultimate on 5 events, underlining their consistency.

A Ranji Trophy title eluded Bengal but once more. They final gained it in 1998-90 once they defeated a star-studded Delhi on the identical Eden Gardens. Their first title had come in 1938-39 in the pre-independence period.

Earlier in the morning session, Unadkat confirmed the way in which after a freak run-out of Bengal batter Shahbaz Ahmed (27). The veteran Saurashtra skipper added 4 wickets to his in a single day tally of two.

The previous Bengal warhorse duo of skipper Manoj Tiwary (68) and Anustup Majumdar (61) slammed valiant half-centuries however the dwelling aspect had been let down by their top-order batters, together with the promising Abhimanyu Easwaran who scored 0 and 16 in the 2 innings.

In-form No. 3 batter Sudip Gharami, who’s recent from a 112 and 41 in the semifinal towards Madhya Pradesh and has 800-plus runs this season, additionally got here a cropper and scored 0 and 14 in the 2 innings.

The determination at hand debut to Sumanta Gupta in a Ranji last additionally will rankle Bengal as he didn’t present any strategy of a top-order batter and perished to an outgoing supply.

State sports activities minister-cum-cricketer Tiwary had delayed his retirement to win a Ranji title from his fourth last, and it stays to be seen whether or not he proceed to play in the upcoming season.

Earlier, the in a single day duo of Tiwary and Shahbaz Ahmed dedicated hara-kiri whereas going for a 3rd run. Ahmed needed to sacrifice his wicket to offer Saurahshtra their first breakthrough of the day.

It additionally unsettled Tiwary as he adopted go well with and received out for 68 after chasing a large supply from Unadkat.

In no time, Bengal had been lowered to 205/9, nonetheless trailing by 25 runs.

But, Bengal’s final pair of Mukesh Kumar and Ishan Porel prevented the ignominy of an innings defeat, scoring 36 runs in 37 balls to delay the inevitable.

Unadkat, who was launched from the Indian Test aspect to play in the Ranji last, had bagged 3/44 in the Bengal first innings. He was ably supported by fellow left-arm pacer Chetan Sakariya (3/33) after they opted to bowl on a energetic pitch.

Having ready a green-top, Bengal had been caught in their very own internet as their top-order batters confirmed full lack of software on the opening day.

Brief Scores:

Bengal 174 and 241 in 70.4 overs (Manoj Tiwary 68, Anustup Majumdar 61; Jaydev Unadkat 6/85, Chetan Sakariya 3/76).

Saurashtra 404 and 14/1 in 2.4 overs.

Saurashtra gained by nine wickets.

(Only the headline and movie of this report could have been reworked by the Business Standard workers; the remainder of the content material is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)