Out-of-favour India veteran Mohammed Shami continued his sparkling form in domestic cricket, delivering match-winning figures of 4 for 13 as Bengal cruised to a seven-wicket victory over Services in a Group C Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy encounter on Thursday.
This win marked Bengal’s fourth in five games. With 16 points, Abhimanyu Easwaran’s side now leads the points table, putting themselves in a strong position for the knock-out stages. Easwaran, who is also eyeing IPL auction opportunities, played a composed 37-ball 58 to guide Bengal’s chase of 166, completed in just 15.1 overs. Delhi Capitals star Abhishek Porel contributed 56 off 29 balls, forging a second-wicket stand of 93 in only 8.2 overs that set up the victory.
Shami, awarded Player of the Match, dismantled Services’ batting line-up with his lethal pace, claiming two early wickets in his first spell, including openers Gaurav Kocchar (0) and Ravi Chauhan (26 off 9 balls). While comeback seamer Mukesh Kumar struggled (0/53 in 3 overs), off-spinner Writtick Chatterjee (2/32) and fellow India international Akash Deep (3/27) grabbed crucial middle-order wickets. Shami then polished off the tail in his final spell, leaving Services all out for 165 in 18.2 overs.
In another Group C clash, Hardik Pandya produced a tidy bowling spell, finishing with 1 for 16 as Baroda comfortably defeated Gujarat by eight wickets in a low-scoring game. Gujarat were bundled out for just 73 in 14.1 overs, with only two batters reaching double digits. Hardik accounted for CSK danger man Urvil Patel (7), while former India U-19 seamer Raj Limbani took 3 for 5.
Baroda chased down the target in just 6.4 overs, with Hardik contributing a quick 10 off 6 balls. The all-rounder will now head to Cuttack to join the Indian T20I squad for the five-match series against South Africa starting December 9.
(By PTI Inputs)
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