Inspiring skipper Jaydev Unadkat led by instance with a six-wicket haul to information Saurashtra to an authoritative nine-wicket victory over Bengal on Sunday and underscored his group’s ascendancy in red-ball cricket by successful the second crown in three seasons on the fourth day of the Ranji Trophy closing at the Eden Gardens right here.
Facing an uphill process and a deficit of 61 runs, Bengal resumed its fightback from 169 for 4 to barely keep away from the ignominy of an innings defeat at dwelling by posting 241.
In a repeat of the results of the 2020 closing again dwelling in Rajkot, Saurashtra chased down the simple goal of 12 runs previous to lunch. at its captain and former Kolkata Knight Riders participant Unadkat’s ‘second home’.
Terrible mix-up
The unbeaten pair of captain Manoj Tiwary (68, 154b, 10×4) and Shahbaz Ahmed (27, 38b, 4×4) started in proper earnest and added 48 earlier than Shahbaz was run out resulting from a horrible mix-up with his skipper, who erred in calling for a 3rd run, in the sixth over of the day.
It was a lethal blow as Bengal misplaced three extra wickets in the subsequent six overs with Unadkat, who had scalped Sudip Gharami and Anustup Majumdar in a single day, doing most of the injury.
Tiwary poked a wider one from his reverse quantity to gully, whereas wicketkeeper-batter Abishek Porel pulled Chetan Sakariya to deep square-leg in consecutive overs.
Unadkat stored it on the stumps to eliminate Akash Deep and Akash Ghatak.
The host’s final pair, Ishan Porel and Mukesh Kumar, fought on and used the lengthy deal with to garner 36 runs which helped Bengal erase the deficit and make Saurashtra bat once more. Unadkat uprooted Porel’s off-stump to finish the resistance.
Saurashtra misplaced Jay Gohil earlier than reaching the goal in 2.4 overs, with Harvik Desai hitting the successful runs.
Applauded by their households, the Saurashtra cricketers broke into celebrations even as the Bengal gamers appeared on with drooping shoulders and teary eyes.
Unadkat, who returned to guide the aspect in the closing, scalped six wickets in the innings and 9 in the match to named the Player-of-the-Match.
Arpit Vasavada, the season’s second highest run-getter (907) and the stand-in captain in a couple of matches, was the Player-of-the-Tournament.
In a tremendous gesture, Unadkat requested Vasavada to raise the trophy alongside with him.
The scores:
Bengal — 1st innings: 174.
Saurashtra — 1st innings: 404.
Bengal — 2nd innings: Sumanta Gupta c Mankad b Sakariya 1, Abhimanyu Easwaran c Harvik b Sakariya 16, Sudip Gharami c Mankad b Unadkat 14, Anustup Majumdar c Vishvaraj b Unadkat 61, Manoj Tiwary c Vishvaraj b Unadkat 68, Shahbaz Ahmed run out 27, Abishek Porel c Bhut b Sakariya 3, Akash Ghatak b Unadkat 4, Akash Deep lbw b Unadkat 1, Mukesh Kumar (not out) 15, Ishan Porel b Unadkat 22; Extras (b-4, lb-2, nb-2, w-1): 9; Total (in 70.4 overs): 241
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-22, 3-47, 4-146, 5-194, 6-198, 7-198, 8-200, 9-205.
Saurashtra bowling: Unadkat 22.4-1-85-6, Sakariya 21-2-76,3, Jani 5-0-12-0, Dharmendra 9-2-29-0, Mankad 9-1-21-0, Bhut 4-0-12-0.
Saurashtra — 2nd innings: Harvik Desai (not out) 4, Jay Gohil c Gharami b Akash Deep 0, Vishvaraj Jadeja (not out) 10; Total (for one wkt. in 2.4 overs): 14.
Fall of wicket: 1-0.
Bengal bowling: Mukesh 1.4-1-9-0, Akash Deep 1-0-5-1.
