Bengal on Monday slumped to a crushing defeat at the hands of Kerala in Ranji Trophy 2024. The Manoj Tiwary-led team blew their chances for qualifying for the next round of tournament. Bengal, chasing a target of 448 runs in the fourth innings, were bundled out for 339 runs. Tiwary’s team slumped to the defeat by 109 runs.
Shahbaz Ahmed, making a comeback to Bengal’s Ranji side after a long lay off, fought teeth and nail with both bat and ball, and Abhimanyu Easwaran struck half centuries in both innings but it wasn’t enough as spinner Jalaj Saxena starred for the Kerala side with 13-wicket haul in the match.
Batting first, Kerala scored a huge total of 363 in the first innings thanks to a centuries from Sachin Baby Akshay Chandran. Bengal in reply were all-out for 180 runs as Jalaj Saxena ran riot with a 9-wicket haul.
Kerala in their second innings were all-out for 180, leaving Bengal with a huge target of 448 to chase in their fourth innings. Easwaran scored 65 runs while Shahbaz Ahmed top-scored with 80 but it wasn’t enough as Bengal paid the price for their poor batting display in the first innings. Kerala ultimately won the game by 109 runs, with Jalaj Saxena taking a four-fer in the 4th innings as well.