Mohammed Shami served another reminder to the Indian selectors with a five-wicket haul as Bengal beat Gujarat by 141 runs for their second straight win in the early part of their Ranji Trophy campaign on Tuesday.
With 15 wickets in 68 overs across the first two games, Shami has given a good account of his form and fitness in the premier domestic competition thus far. He last played for India in the Champions Trophy but was not picked for the five Test tour of England.
With five wickets on day four of the game, Shami took his match tally to eight wickets. The player of the match award went to left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed who took six wickets in the first innings to give Bengal a crucial first-innings lead over Gujarat. Resuming their second innings at 170 for six, Bengal declared at 214 for eight to set Gujarat an improbable 327 run target.
Shami’s exploits on the final day meant Gujarat were rolled over for 185 in the second innings. Batting at three, Urvil Patel kept Gujarat’s fight going with an unbeaten 109 off 124 but barring himself, Jaymeet Patel (45) and Aarya Desai (13), none of the batters could enter double digits.
In Ramnagar, Uttarakhand were all out for 398 after gaining the all-important first-innings lead over Railways, who made 333 in the first innings. In the second innings, Railways were 85 for one when players settled for a draw.
Brief Scores:
At Kolkata: Bengal 279 and 214/8 decl in 54 overs (Sudip Kumar Gharami 54; Siddharth Desai 5/61) vs Gujarat 167 all out in 76.3 overs and 185 all out in 45.5 overs (Urvil Patel 109 not out; Mohammed Shami 5/38). Bengal won by 141 runs.
At Ramnagar: Railways 333 and 85 for one in 23 overs vs Uttarakhand 398 all out (Yuvraj Chaudhary 92, Bhupen Lalwani 78; Kunal Yadav 5/85). Match drawn with three points to Uttarakhand due to first innings lead.
