Pradipta Pramanik

Bengal qualified for the knockout stage of the Syed Mushtaq Ali (T20) meet by recording a thumping 53-run victory against Chhattisgarh at the Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Thursday.

Bengal finally got a win under the belt in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (one-day) meet when they subdued Tripura by 109 runs in a Group B match at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium, Amtar, on Tuesday.

Bengal bowlers showed enormous discipline to skittle out Punjab for a paltry 147 before reaching 76 for no loss as they completely dominated the proceedings during a Ranji Trophy group D encounter, on Friday.

Nagaland must be glad to bat out the entire truncated Day I of their Elite Group ‘A’ Ranji Tropy match against Bengal finishing with 166 for nine at the Nagaland Cricket Stadium in Sovima on the outskirts of Dimapur on Tuesday. Aiming to get maximum points against a relatively weak rival, Bengal skipper Manoj Tiwary would have loved to take the reins of the match in his hands on the opening day itself, but Chetan Bist stood tall after Bengal bowlers did make early inroads.

Bengal selectors opted for experience as old warhorses Manoj Tiwary and Anushtup Majumder returned to the side for the Vijay Hazare Trophy (50-over) meet.

Opener Abhimanyu Easwaran was named the skipper of Bengal for the Syed Mushtaq Ali (T20) tournament which will mark the beginning of the upcoming domestic season. The opener, who got 196 runs in the three unofficial Tests for India 'A' in the recent series against New Zealand 'A', will have all-rounder Writtick Chatterjee as his deputy.

Three months after refusing to play for Bengal after his India career ended, veteran stumper Wriddhiman Saha has agreed to play for Bengal in the all-important Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Jharkhand in Bengaluru from June 6.

Veteran batter Manoj Tiwary was on Monday named in Bengal's 21-member Ranji Trophy squad less than a year after he made his political debut for ruling Trinamool Congress party in the state.

Former Delhi player Kunal Chandela's dogged 136 and late resistance from lower order could possibly help Uttarakhand retain its pole position after the hosts finished their first innings on 272 against a dominant Bengal on the third day of the Ranji Trophy group A match.

Bengal virtually assured their Ranji Trophy final berth for the second time in three seasons after stretching their overall lead to a massive 547 runs against defending champions Madhya Pradesh on Saturday.

A dominating show by their batters saw Bengal thrash Services by 47 runs in a run-feast and finish their Vijay Hazare Trophy league stage engagement on a winning note at the Mecon Stadium in Ranchi on Monday.

Bengal returned to winning ways with a five-wicket victory against Assam in a Vijay Hazare Trophy Elite Group 'C' match in Chennai on Friday.

The Bengal Under-23 boys marched into the semifinals of the one-day meet beating Tamil Nadu by four wickets via the VJD method at Dehradun on Wednesday. They will play Chandigarh in the semifinal on Friday.

A day after crashing to a big defeat against Mumbai, Bengal made some amends in their second Vijay Hazare Trophy Group E match in Ranchi on Sunday, hammering Mizoram by nine wickets.Chasing only 58, Bengal achieved the target in just 6.

Off-spinner Writtick Bijoy Chatterjee on Friday bowled Bengal back into contention in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match against Tamil Nadu with a five-wicket haul at the MA Chidambaram stadium here.

Bengal's captain Sudip Kumar Gharami and the experienced Anustup Majumdar each scored impressive centuries, leading their team to an eight-wicket victory over Gujarat and securing their spot in the quarterfinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Bengal defeated Gujarat by eight wickets in the Vijay Hazare Trophy meet, thanks to a remarkable unbeaten third-wicket partnership between Sudip Gharami and Anushtup Majumder. Gharami scored 117 runs, while Majumder remained not out on 102. Bengal's bowlers struggled initially but managed to restrict Gujarat to 283/9. Bengal chased down the target comfortably with Gharami and Majumder's brilliant centuries. Bengal will face Haryana in the quarterfinals.

Bengal suffered another batting failure in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, losing to Haryana in the quarterfinals. Shahbaz Ahmed's century was not enough to secure a win for Bengal as they lacked support from other batsmen. Haryana chased down the target with the help of Ankit Kumar's century. Abhimanyu Easwaran's absence and poor opening partnerships added to Bengal's struggles. Yuzvendra Chahal's four-wicket haul contributed to Haryana's victory.

Bengal defeated Assam by five wickets Friday for its third win from four games in the Vijay Hazare Trophy Elite Group 'C' league.

Bengal returned to winning ways with a comprehensive nine-wicket win against Services at the ACA Stadium in Barsapara, Guwahati, on Monday. Bengal’s cause was aided by Chhattisgarh, who defeated Mumbai by one wicket in another match on the day thereby giving the Sudip Chatterjee-led side a healthy chance of making the knockout stage.

A plethora of covid cases in Bengal's team has hurt Mumbai's preparations for the forthcoming Ranji Trophy too.

Anustup Majumdar hit an unbeaten century after the bowlers struck to their task as Bengal returned to winning ways recording a comfortable eight-wicket win over Pondicherry in a Group ‘E’ Vijay Hazare Trophy match at Mecon Stadium in Ranchi on Thursday.

There were some questions raised when Bengal selectors opted for a new-look side ignoring some veteran players for the season-opening Syed MushtaqAli (T20) tournament.

Two late strikes saw Bengal make a comeback after Andhra replied strongly to finish Day II of the Elite Group ‘B’ Ranji Trophy encounter at 119 for three in Visakhapatnam on Saturday. The hosts still trail Bengal by 290 runs after the visitors were bowled out for 409 at the stroke of lunch.

Skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran's unbeaten 52 after Shahbaz Ahmed's superb all-round show gave Bengal a glimmer of hope even as Madhya Pradesh firmly held the upper hand on the penultimate day of the Ranji Trophy semi-final on Friday.

Anushtup Majumder sent a fitting reply to the selectors who dropped him for the season-opening Syed Mushtaq Ali (T20) meet by hitting a century against Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (50-over) Elite Group B match KCA Cricket Ground in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.

Abhimanyu Easwaran reaffirmed his status as a future India prospect with a defining unbeaten 93 as Bengal are on course of batting defending champions Gujarat out of the Ranji Trophy quarter-final.

Bengal strengthened their squad for their Ranji Trophy quarterfinal clash by naming Wriddhiman Saha and Mohammad Shami in the 22-member side on Monday.