Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25: Abishek Porel’s unbeaten 170 powers Bengal to six-wicket win over Delhi
Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25: Abishek Porel’s unbeaten 170 powers Bengal to six-wicket win over Delhi
It was Abishek Porel show! The 22-year-old Porel served another reminder of his growing reputation with a brilliant, unbeaten 170 (130b, 18×4, 7×6) to fashion Bengal’s convincing, six-wicket win against Delhi in the Group E match at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Saturday.
Chasing a challenging total which merited the right blend of caution and aggression, Porel, the wicket-keeper-batter was equal to the task.
Playing late really helped him to come up with some extravagant strokes. Though he was lucky to be dropped twice – on 25 and then on 92 – the southpaw showed his competence in guiding the team through.
When he crossed the three-figure magic mark, Porel indulged in Shubman Gill-like celebrations. And, more importantly, he stayed till the end against an attach which included India stars Ishant Sharma and Navdeep Saini.
The Delhi bowling attack rarely tested the batters despite getting opener Karan Lal (5) in the fourth over as Bengal stitched useful partnerships with Anustup Majumdar (37, 39b, 3×4, 1×6) being the other main scorer to keep the bowlers at bay and ensuring the asking rate was in control.
Earlier, Delhi scored what looked a challenging 272 for seven in 50 overs thanks to handy contributions from opener Vaibhav Kandpal (47, 67b, 3×4, 1×6), captain Ayush Badoni (41, 56b, 5×4) at the top and with Himmat Singh chipping in with a breezy 60 (57b, 7 x4, 1×6) and wicketkeeper-batter Anuj Rawat (79 not out, 66b, 9×4, 2×6).
It was a creditable show by the Bengal bowlers for most of the innings on a batter-friendly pitch and Delhi owed its total to a crucial 101 run stand for the sixth wicket between Himmat Singh and Rawat, the latter really opening up to play some wonderful strokes in the slog overs.
For Bengal, pacer Mukesh Kumar was the pick of the bowlers with a four-wicket haul even as the team missed the services of India star Mohammed Shami who is expected to join the team from second round here.
