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Bengal humble star-studded Karnataka to
reach quarterfinals



9th November 2021
Bengal put up a dominant display to outclass a star-studded Karnataka side by 7 wickets to reach quarterfinals of Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy today in Guwahati.
Electing to bat first Karnataka could only reach 134/8 in their quota of overs in front of a dominant Bengal bowling attack while Bengal rode on Abhimanyu Easwaran's patient unbeaten fifty to finish the match with 2 overs left to play.
Bengal head coach Arun Lal said: "Bowlers were superb but it's not only the bowling attack, it's also the fielding, the catches, the agression as a team. It's a very well made team, one player is getting replaced by another player and there's no complaint. It's not about the eleven players who are playing but also about all the 20 players, everyone is contributing. We have worked very very hard this year and I am very glad to see the youngsters performing well."
"It's not only winning today it's about how they battled the pressure. We had a tough group, sometimes there were tough conditions also but I am glad that they have come of age. I think Bengal cricket is moving forward," he added
Earlier Mukesh Kumar removed two Karnataka openers Mayank Agarwal (4) and Devdutt Paddikal in the first over to give Bengal early advantage.
Karnataka skipper Manish Pandey and Karun Nair stiched a partnership in order to steady the ship till Shahbaz Ahamed removed the skipper on 32 to break the third-wicket stand.
Bengal spinner Pradipta Pramanik sent back Karun Nair (44) and Aniruddha (12) in the sixteenth over while Mukesh got his third in the last over to restrict Karnataka to 134.
While chasing despite losing skipper Sudip early Abhimanyu kept his cool to stich two important 63 and 50-run partnership with Wriddhiman Saha and Kaif Ahamad respectively in the must-win tie.
Bengal skipper Sudip said: "Mumbai won earlier today and to qualify we had to win this match. We were focused about that only, we were determined, played good cricket and we are doing well as a team which we wanna continue."
"Excellent bowling display by our bolwers. Mukesh's two wickets in the first overs helped us put pressure on a strong Karnataka side and Shahbaz, Pradipta took wickets at crucial times to restrict the run flow. A very good display by the team led by the bowlers. It's always good to see Abhimanyu scoring well for Bengal, he's an asset of the team," he said about bowlers and Abhimanyu.
Writtick Chatterjee promoted up to the batting order went back scoring 9-ball 18 while Wriddhiman made 27.
After hitting the match-winning fifty Abhimanyu expressed his joy saying: "It feels good to beat Karnataka and go into the knockouts. The bolwers were really good, everyone put pressure on the opponents to turn the match in our favour. We knew our role, I tried to stay till the end and get the job done."
Kaif was seen playing a quickfire 24-ball 34 not out to guide Bengal towards victory along with Abhimanyu till the end.




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