Xtra Time Web Desk: Riding on a superb unbeaten 111 by Anustup Majumdar, followed by a dominant performance by the bowlers, Bengal outclassed Punjab by 52 runs in their final group match to storm into the quarterfinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Tuesday. Enroute his 116-ball innings, Anustup struck 10 fours and two sixes. He was well supported at the other end by Karan Lal (66) as Bengal managed to post 242/9 in 50 overs. In reply, Punjab were bundled out for 190 in 24.1 overs.
For Bengal, Kaushik Maity (3-36), Shahbaz Ahmed (3-53), Mohammad Kaif (2-31) and Pradipta Pramanik (2-33) were ruthless with the ball. With five wins from six games, Bengal finish on top of Group E with 20 points, thanks to their better net run-rate.
Earlier, put into bat, Bengal’s batting line-up was put to test as top-three Shakir Habib Gandhi (0), Abishek Porel (6) and skipper Sudip Kumar Gharami (26) were dismissed with just 39 on the board.
However, Anustup brought all his experience into play to hold fort at one end.
But Punjab bowlers struck back again to reduce Bengal to 85/6 in the 27th over.
Against the run of play, Anustup and Karan stitched together an excellent and much-needed 145-run partnership for the seventh wicket to take team to a fighting total.
Chasing a challenging target, Punjab looked jittery right from the start. Talented Punjab batters Abhishek Sharma (16), Prabhsimran Singh (31), skipper Mandeep Singh (27) and Anmolpreet Singh (18) all fell after getting off to good starts as the Bengal bowlers executed their plans perfectly.
With Inputs from CAB Media