Ojha star in Bengal's win over Vidarbha
Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha led the spirited charge for Bengal to help it accomplish the first outright win in two seasons. Ojha ended with a match haul of 11 wickets as Bengal downed visiting Vidarbha by 105 runs on the concluding day of the group-A Ranji Trophy match here at the Jadavpur University Salt Lake Campus ground on Tuesday.
Bengal, under the stewardship of its captain Manoj Tiwary, had on previous two occasions in the season slipped on achieving the target when they met Rajasthan (at home) and Haryana (visiting the latter at Lahli). The win finally came as its bowlers grabbed all the 10 Vidarbha in the final day while stopping the latter well ahead of the target of 297 runs. This fetched the host its first win after 13 matches. The six points that Bengal ensured from the win took it to the fourth position with 16 points, which also helped it tie with Assam and Vidarbha on points.
Ojha, one of the imports for Bengal this season, proved his merit finishing with match-winning match figures of 11 for 118. The left-arm spinner, who took seven wickets in Vidarbha’s first innings, led the Bengal attack once again to finish with four for 60 from 34 overs in Vidarbha’s second innings. Speedster Veer Pratap Singh gave Bengal a crucial breakthrough early in the day getting seasoned Wasim Jaffar trapped in front in the seventh delivery as the visitor started on the overnight score of three for no loss. Veer Pratap also gave the second breakthrough picking up the other opener Faiz Fazal in his very next over. With both the openers back in the pavilion with only 15 runs on the card, Vidarbha lost the resolve of chasing the target and was forced into a defensive mode. Ojha took over from this point to pack off the Vidarbha middle-order.
Bengal, under the stewardship of its captain Manoj Tiwary, had on previous two occasions in the season slipped on achieving the target when they met Rajasthan (at home) and Haryana (visiting the latter at Lahli). The win finally came as its bowlers grabbed all the 10 Vidarbha in the final day while stopping the latter well ahead of the target of 297 runs. This fetched the host its first win after 13 matches. The six points that Bengal ensured from the win took it to the fourth position with 16 points, which also helped it tie with Assam and Vidarbha on points.
Ojha, one of the imports for Bengal this season, proved his merit finishing with match-winning match figures of 11 for 118. The left-arm spinner, who took seven wickets in Vidarbha’s first innings, led the Bengal attack once again to finish with four for 60 from 34 overs in Vidarbha’s second innings. Speedster Veer Pratap Singh gave Bengal a crucial breakthrough early in the day getting seasoned Wasim Jaffar trapped in front in the seventh delivery as the visitor started on the overnight score of three for no loss. Veer Pratap also gave the second breakthrough picking up the other opener Faiz Fazal in his very next over. With both the openers back in the pavilion with only 15 runs on the card, Vidarbha lost the resolve of chasing the target and was forced into a defensive mode. Ojha took over from this point to pack off the Vidarbha middle-order.
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