Bengal beats Punjab despite Shami's underperformance; Hardik shines as Baroda triumphs

Bengal secured a hard-fought four-wicket victory over Punjab in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, despite a lackluster performance by veteran pacer Mohammed Shami in his first white ball appearance since the 2023 World Cup final. Punjab's Arshdeep Singh put up a commendable all-round display, but Bengal managed to hold on for the win in Rajkot.

Shami returned with figures of 4-0-46-1 in Punjab’s total of 179 all out in 19.4 overs.

The Bengal man earlier made his red-ball return in a Ranji Trophy match against Madhya Pradesh in Indore and was impressive while picking up seven wickets.

Abhishek Sharma did not fire but Prabhsimran Singh , Anmolpreet Singh and Arshdeep chipped in for Punjab.

Karan Lal took three wickets for Bengal.

In reply, Shahbaz Ahmed made a 49-ball 100 as Bengal overcame a good spell by pacer Arshdeep to reach the target with an over to spare.

Hardik fires Baroda to win

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All-rounder Hardik Pandya hammered a 74 off 35 balls as Baroda scored a five-wicket win over Gujarat.

Earlier, Hardik also took a wicket while conceding 37 runs in four overs as Gujarat made 184 for five.

Axar Patel made an unbeaten 43 off 33 balls.

But in bowling, the India left-arm spinner could not pick up any wicket while giving away 31 runs in his full quota of overs.

Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi took two wickets.

Rinku’s 70 in vain

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India left-hander Rinku Singh made 70 off 38 balls but Uttar Pradesh failed to chase down Delhi’s mammoth 233 for three.

UP made 186 for eight.

Nitish Rana’s 42-ball 61 too went in vain. Former India pacer Ishant Sharma was impressive while taking two wickets for just 23 runs in four overs.

For Delhi, Priyansh Arya and Himmat Singh were the main run-makers.

Samson propels Kerala

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Skipper Sanju Samson’s 75 was enough for Kerala to ward off an exceptional four for seven in three overs by Pulkit Narang to chase down Services’ 149 for nine in 18.1 overs.

Brief Scores:

Group A: At Rajkot: Punjab: 179 all out in 19.4 overs lost to Bengal: 181/6 in 19 overs by 4 wickets.

Group B: At Indore: Gujarat: 184/5 in 20 overs lost to Baroda: 188/5 in 19.4 overs by 5 wickets.

Group C: At Mumbai: Delhi: 233/3 in 20 overs beat UP: 186/8 in 20 overs by 47 runs.

Group E: At Hyderabad: Services: 149/9 in 20 overs lost to Kerala: 153/ in 18.1 overs by 3 wickets.

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