Mohammed Siraj bowled a stunning spell for Hyderabad in their Vijay Hazare Trophy clash against Bengal on Tuesday. He proved to be the pick of the bowlers as the team handed a 107-run defeat to Abhimanyu Easwaran & Co. This was just Hyderabad's second win of the tournament.
Earlier, Aman Rao's record-breaking double-hundred and Rahul Gahlaut's half-century had gotten Hyderabad to a formidable total of 352/5 at the end of 50 overs. In reply, Bengal failed to make a good start to the run-chase as Siraj bowled a fiery opening spell.
Siraj's incredible opening spell
The 31-year-old first dismissed Sumit Nag in the third over before getting the massive wicket of the in-form Easwaran for 15 runs in the fifth over. Siraj then went on to send Sudip Gharami back to the pavilion on the very next delivery as Bengal went down to 38/3. The pacer totally decimated the opposing team's top-order and put them under a lot of pressure.
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However, things did get a lot better for Bengal once the duo of Anustup Majumdar and Shahbaz Ahmed took to the middle. The two provided the team with some much-needed stability and got them over the 100-run mark for the loss of four wickets. Though they didn't bat in explosive fashion and played rather sensibly, it was enough to get Bengal back into the game.
But, Majumdar would fall a few overs after completing his half-century. The wicket saw the 97-run stand come to an end as Bengal got restricted down to 147/5. Though wickets kept on falling at one end regularly, Shahbaz kept on scoring runs from the other as the side went past the 200-run mark. Siraj would soon rack up his fourth scalp of the day as he got rid of tail-ended Rohit Kumar. He would end his quota of 10 overs with bowling figures of 4/58 as Hyderabad edged closer to victory.
Shahbaz's century goes in vain
Shahbaz eventually went on to bring up his hundred, but it came in a losing cause as Bengal got bowled out for 245 and lost the match by 107 runs. The defeat saw the Easwaran-led side drop down to third place on Elite Group B with 16 points from six games. They are behind both Uttar Pradesh and Vidarbha in the group while Hyderabad stand fifth with eight points.