KOLKATA:
Bengal
finished their domestic campaign on a disappointing note, going down to
Haryana by five wickets in their last
Vijay Hazare Trophy
Elite Group E match at the
Eden Gardens
on Monday. With both sides out of reckoning for a knockout berth, they had only pride to play for and Bengal suffered a dent in that too, crashing to another humiliating loss, their third in five matches.
The hosts failed to survive even their full quota, folding up for just 177 runs in 45.1 overs after being put in to bat by Haryana skipper
Jayant Yadav
. It was a cakewalk for Haryana who took full advantage of some poor Bengal bowling to reach 178 runs losing only five wickets in 43.3 overs.
Bengal, flying high after finishing runners-up in the Ranji Trophy last season, were brought down to earth as they failed to make the knockout rounds in Syed Mushtaq Ali as well as Vijay Hazare meets. In spite of enjoying home advantage in both the tournaments, nothing really clicked for Bengal, who were found wanting in all the three departments.
The match was all but sealed when half the side was back in the pavilion within 25 overs as Bengal were found struggling at 85 for five by the 24th over. All the three batsmen who got runs in the last match - Abhimanyu Easwaran (2), Ritwik Roy Chowdhury (0) and skipper Anushtup Majumder (31) - failing, there was no one to steady the ship. Wicketkeeper-batsman Suvankar Bal played a lone hand with a 67-ball 54, but that was not enough. Medium-pacer Sanjay Pahal, playing his first match of this season, was the wrecker in chief picking up three for 32 while Yadav, Ajit Chahal and Ashok Sandhu claimed two wickets each.
Brief scores: At Eden Gardens: Bengal 177 in 45.1 ovs (Suvankar Bal 54; Sanjay Pahal 3-32, Jayant Yadav 2-31, Ashok Sandhu 2-33, Ajit Chahal 2-49). Haryana 178/5 in 43.3 ovs (Shubham Rohilla 50; Shahbaz Ahmed 3-35). Haryana won by 5 wkts.
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