Syed Mushtaq Ali T20: Bengal beats Rajasthan to reach quarters

Syed Mushtaq Ali T20: Bengal beats Rajasthan to reach quarters

Bengal stormed into the knockouts of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, topping Group A after defeating Rajasthan by seven wickets in their final league game at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot on Thursday.

Chasing 154, Abishek Porel played a brilliant knock of 78 off 48 balls before being dismissed in the 15th over by Kamlesh Nagarkoti. However, it was too late for Rajasthan to mount a comeback, leaving its qualification hopes hanging by a thread despite having won the first five games of the league.

Porel started the chase with a straight six over bowler Aniket Choudhary’s head. His opening partner, Karan Lal, also found the boundary with a square drive before he was caught at point off the very next ball.

Sudip Gharami joined Porel, and the duo made sure the bowlers couldn’t settle into a rhythm, either by playing deep in the crease or charging down the track. Porel hit four sixes and seven fours, while Gharami anchored the innings perfectly. Even when two quick wickets fell, captain Gharami kept his composure, guiding Bengal to its sixth win with an unbeaten 50 off 45 balls, securing the victory with nine balls to spare.

After opting to bowl, Bengal had Rajasthan in disarray from the start. Mohammed Shami got the ball to move away from the right-handers and struck with his second delivery, getting Abhijeet Tomar caught lbw.

With the ball keeping low, Deepak Hooda and Bharat Sharma had to see off the first two overs. Hooda lofted Shami over mid-off to bring up Rajasthan’s first boundary, and Bharat followed with an exquisite cover drive for four.

Bharat attempted to take on the new bowler, Sayan Ghosh, with a lofted drive, but Shami timed his leap at mid-off perfectly, taking a stunning one-handed catch. In the following over, Hooda charged at Shahbaz Ahmed but was caught at long-off as Rajasthan lost three wickets inside the PowerPlay for just 30.

Kartik Sharma and Mahipal Lomror took their time, nudging the ball around for the next three overs. When Bengal introduced Pradipta Pramanik in the 10th over, Kartik welcomed him with a slog sweep for six off the first ball.

However, Bengal’s spinners kept up the pressure in the middle overs, and proactive fielding made run-scoring difficult for the Rajasthan batters. In the 15th over, Lomror greeted Mohammad Kaif with a six over midwicket, and Kartik followed suit, clearing the boundary over fine leg. 

Both batters were dismissed in the following overs while trying to accelerate. Lomror was caught off Writtick Chatterjee, and Kartik’s stumps were rattled after he missed a slog sweep against Ahmed.

Shami returned to bowl in the death overs, cleaning up Shubham Garhwal with a yorker, before hurrying Deepak Chahar, who top-edged a delivery straight to the wicketkeeper. Rajasthan could only manage a subpar 153 for nine in the end.