Bengal outclassed Railways to register a convincing win by an innings and 120 runs in their latest Ranji Trophy encounter.
Anustup Majumder and Shahbaz Ahmed starred for Bengal as they secured their first bonus point win of the Ranji Trophy campaign.
Electing to bat first after winning the toss, Bengal set a daunting target by compiling 474 runs in their first innings over 129.3 overs.
The highlight of Bengal's innings was an outstanding 135 by veteran Anustup Majumdar, who played a controlled and mature innings over 182 balls, punctuated with 19 boundaries. He received valuable support from Shahbaz Ahmed (86) and Sumanta Gupta (120), both of whom played big innings to anchor the middle order after early wickets threatened to derail the innings.
Contributions from Vishal Bhati (36) and Rahul Prasad (40 not out) added depth to the total, with Bengal demonstrating solid batting depth and resilience.
Railways, in reply, struggled significantly against the disciplined Bengal bowling attack. They were bundled out for 222 in 86.3 overs, with Bhargav Merai top-scoring with 91. Other batsmen found it hard to counter the tight lines and lengths from Bengal's bowlers, particularly Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal and Rahul Prasad who both took crucial wickets. Railways' poor start put them on the back foot early in the match.
Enforced to follow on due to the huge deficit, Railways could only muster 132 runs in their second innings before being dismissed. Bengal's Shahbaz Ahmed was the star with the ball, picking up a match-winning haul of 8 wickets in the match, including 7 in the second innings alone, decimating the Railways batting lineup. Other bowlers like Rahul Prasad and Mohammed Kaif also chipped in with important wickets.
With the victory, Bengal now sit atop of the Group C points table with 20 points. This is also their third win of the season, having already won against Uttarakhand and Gujarat in the earlier rounds.
