CABThe Cricket Association of Bengal

Ton-up Anustup, Shahbaz hand Bengal crucial victory


12th December 2021
Bengal defeated Mumbai in a must-win Vijay Hazare trophy match by 67 runs (VJD method) thanks to classic centuries from Anustup Majumder and Shahbaz Ahamad in Trivandrum today.
Batting first Bengal amassed mammoth 318/7 as Anustup smashed 110 off 120 deliveries while Shahbaz scored 97-ball 106. In reply Mumbai were restricted to 223/8 in a rain curtailed match.
Bengal coach Arun Lal said: "Absolutely marvelous batting by Anustup. He was shades of what we saw two years ago, fantastic. We lost the toss, there was a little juice in the wicket and he playes freely, fabulous intent. The partnership with Shahbaz has been magnificent. Good to see Shahbaz among runs and at the top Abhsihek gave us a good start, played fearless cricket."
"The bowling unit has been performing day in and day out for Bengal, they are producing results everytime they enter the park. We're very happy with our bolwers. Today Pradipta waa exceptional for us, he was the pick of the bowlers today," he added.
Mukesh Kumar and Writtick Chatterjee handed Bengal early advantage reducing Mumbai to 52/2.
Pradipta removed set Mumbai batter Surya on 49 while debutant Ranjot Singh Khaira sent Armann Jaffer on 47 to disrupt the chase. Pradipta went on to take 3 wickets for 33 runs in the match as Mumbai couldn't find a way back to the game after that.
Earlier Bengal's shaky start to their innings losing skipper Sudip Chatterjee (5) in the fifth over was handled well by experienced campaigner Anustup with his steady batting.
At first a 56-run second wicket partnership with Abhishek Das (38) and later 129 runs off the fourth wicket with Shahbaz after Ritwik Roy Chowdhury went back without contributing much, laid the foundation for a 300-plus score in this important match.
Writtick added crucial 33 to help Bengal reach 318/7.





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