SMAT: Mohammed Shami's heroic spell, Abhimanyu Easwaran's robust fifty leads Bengal to dominant victory over Services

Mohammed Shami and Abhimanyu Easwaran proved to be the stars of the show as Bengal made it four wins out of five games in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT). It was Shami who showcased his heroics first and went on to bowl a terrific spell of 4/13 in 3.2 overs. The Services bowlers failed to defend the 166-run target as both Easwaran and Abishek Porel scored gritty half-centuries.

After winning the toss and being inited to bat first, Services had a woeful start as Shami  racked up the wicket of Gaurav Kochar on the first delivery of the innings. The duo of Ravi Chauhan and Mohit Ahlawat tried to steady the innings by scoring quickly, but the former departed for 26 runs and  it was Shami who once again did the trick for Bengal.

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Akash Deep also joined the party in the very next over and sent Nitin Tanwar back to the pavilion cheaply for five runs. Ahlawat formed a much-needed 67-run partnership with Vineet Dhankar as Services crossed the 100-run mark. However, once the stand got broken in the ninth over with the dismissal of Ahlawat, the floodgates opened again.

Shami and Akash Deep run riot

Services would lose their next two wickets for the space of 17 runs, restricting them to 119/6 at one stage. A cameo of 32 from Nakul Sharma helped them cross the 150-run mark, but they weren't able to go very far as Shami continued his stunning spell. Both him and Akash Deep went on to take two wickets more as Services got bundled out for165 runs in 18.3 overs.

In reply, Bengal also had a poor start as they lost opener Karan Lal for a duck in the second over. Notably, the batter had taken the side to victory in their previous game by scoring a phenomenal century so this was a big blow. However, a fantastic 93-run partnership between Porel and Easwaran would calm down all their nerves. Both the players went on to reach their half-centuries and played some brilliant shots in the process.

Porel and Easwaran's fifties help Bengal to victory

While Porel and Easwaran were dismissed for 56 and 58 respectively, the damage was already done and Bengal were clearly  on their way to victory. Cameos of 36 and 14 from Yuvraj Keswani and Akash Deep respectively were enough to get the side to  a comfortable victory in 15.1 overs. This win has led  Bengal to the top of Elite Group C with 16  points from five  games. It remains to be seen if they will be able to keep up their fine form in their next game of the SMAT that will be against Pudu cherry on December 6.