Manoj Tiwary’ s side will face MS Dhoni’s Jharkhand in the semis
Internet Desk: Bengal continued their great run in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, as they are through to the semi-finals of the tournament by beating another heavyweight side Maharashtra in a nail-biting match by 4 wickets in the last over of the game. It was Bengal’s biggest run chase ever, as they surpassed Maharashtra’s score of 318 runs with one ball to spare, thanks to some brilliant batting by opener Shreevats Goswami, Agniv Pan, skipper Manoj Tiwary, veteran Anustup Majumder and talented middle order batsman Sudip Chatterjee, at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, New Delhi on Wednesday. With this win Manoj Tiwary led Bengal side have qualified for the semi-finals, where they will face former India skipper MS Dhoni’s Jharkhand on Friday.
Earlier, Maharashtra skipper Kedar Jadhav won the toss and elected to bat first. Maharashtra opener Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 43 runs before getting out to Sayan Ghosh. Skipper Kedar Jadhav scored 44 runs for his side, but he should give credit to Bengal fielders as a couple of dropped chances saved Kedar too. At one stage Maharashtra was at 148/4, but after that Rahul Tripathi (95) and Nikhil Naik (63) held the innings for their side and added crucial 116 runs for the fifth wicket. Due to their knocks, Maharashtra posted a huge total of 318 runs on board. Sayan Ghosh and Aamir Gani were the most successful bowlers for Bengal as they both took two wickets for them.
In reply Bengal opener Shreevats (74) batted brilliantly, as he set the tone for Bengal during their biggest chase ever. Bengal team management was unhappy with the umpire’s decision, as they thing Abhimanyu Easwaran (6) and Manoj Tiwary’s (40) were the victim of poor decision. After Manoj’s wicket Bengal were at 187 /4 at one stage and if they had lost another wicket it could have been the last nail on the coffin for Bengal. But experienced Anustup Majumdar (66) and Bengal’s Mr. Dependable Sudip Chatterjee (60*) had other ideas, as they batted brilliantly for Bengal and added 117 runs for the fifth wicket to help Bengal to clinch the victory.
Bengal skipper Manoj Tiwary is very happy with his team’s performance.”I am proud of my team’s performance. Each and every player have contributed for the side. In this tournament my batsmen and bowlers both have performed really well. After Maharashtra posted a huge total of 318 runs on the board, our batsmen batted really well to outclass a heavyweight side like Maharashtra and we want to continue this momentum till the end of the tournament,” said Manoj.
Though it was a batting paradise for both the teams, but it was always a pressure to chase a huge total of 319 runs. On being asked about their game-plan to chase the total, Manoj added,”Our coach Sairaz Bahutule gave a pep-talk to us just before the batting and he said that though the target is big, but don’t lose your self-belief. If we can play to our potential the victory will be ours and our boys have done that by winning the match with one ball to spare.”
Bengal will face MS Dhoni led Jharkhand on Friday. Manoj is confident before facing a tough side like Jharkhand.”We respect Jharkhand a lot. They are a good side and that’s why they are in the semi-finals. To me it will be biggest match of my career and I want to win this match at any cost,” said Manoj.
Anustup Majumdar left Bengal two years ago to play for Railways. After couple of seasons, he made his return to Bengal but unfortunately he didn’t get a chance in the Ranji Trophy. He got his chance in the Vijay Hazare Trophy but unfortunately big runs were not coming from his bat, but today he played a crucial knock of 66 runs when it was badly needed as Bengal needed a partnership badly to stay in the match. While talking to xtratime.in Anustup was reliving his memories,as he said,”In the 2011-12 season at this venue, me and Laxmi played this kind of an innings where Bengal were in trouble against Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy Final and we won that match. I was thinking of that game while playing today. It was in my mind that if we were able to win that match, the same thing can happen today. At one stage the asking rate was 8.5, but me and Sudip both knew that if we can bat till the end the victory will be ours. I am disapointed that I couldn’t finish the match but nevertheless after this victory our team’s moral will be much high before the semi-finals.”
After returning from a thumb injury Sudip again played an unbeaten knock of 60 runs to help Bengal cross the line. Sudip termed this win his best ever in first-class cricket.” This is the sweetest victory for me in my first class career. Me and Anustup Da both knew that it was a good wicket to bat on and if we can bat till the end our chance to win the match will be much higher,” said Sudip.