Bengal’s Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign ended in disappointment as they were beaten by 72 runs by Haryana in Thursday’s pre-quarterfinal clash at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Baroda.
This was a stronger Bengal side with pacer Mukesh Kumar returning to the XI after recovering from neck stiffness and Abhimanyu Easwaran too back after the Australia tour. But neither in bowling nor in batting were Bengal up to the mark.
In reply to Haryana’s 298/9, all Bengal could manage was 226 with 41 balls left.
Opting to bowl first on a pitch that had a little bit in it for quicks in the initial stage, Bengal had Haryana in a bit of wobble at 98/3 in the 17th over. However, Parth Vats (62) and Nishant Sindhu (64) struck a counterattacking 84-run partnership that helped Haryana regain the momentum.
IPL specialist Rahul Tewatia (29) also contributed in the slog overs and so did Sumit Kumar (41 not out) as Haryana could finish close to 300, posting a formidable total.
Quicks Mohammed Shami (3/61) and Mukesh (2/46) did pick up wickets but lacked the necessary support from the rest of the bowlers. With the bat for Bengal, Abishek Porel scored 57 before the innings fell apart following his dismissal in the 28th over of the run chase.
Porel and captain Sudip Gharami had given Bengal a solid start as they reached 70 without loss in the 13th over before the skipper’s dismissal. Easwaran, at No.3, contributed only 10 before senior pro Anustup Majumdar (36) joined Porel to help Bengal gain the momentum back.
But both batters fell in quick succession by the end of the 29th over with Bengal still needing 146 for victory.
Batting did become a tad easier as the game progressed, but the application from most of Bengal’s batters was simply below par. “In the last 10 overs, we needed 80-odd, which is quite achievable nowadays in this format.
“Yet, we couldn’t get those runs because of lack of enough wickets in hand. Nothing much left to say,” a member of the Bengal coaching staff rued.
Brief scores: Haryana 298/9 in 50 ovs (Nishant Sindhu 64; Mohammed Shami 3/61). Bengal 226 in 43.1 ovs (Abishek Porel 57; Parth Vats 3/33). Haryana won by 72 runs.