Saurashtra are Ranji champions again
- Kolkata: Jaydev Unadkat will always hold a special place in Saurashtra cricket. The left-arm pacer, who returned to lead the side in the Ranji Trophy final after being released from the India camp, played a pivotal role to help the side clinch its second title in three seasons at Eden Gardens here on Saturday.
- In a repeat of the result of the 2020 final back home in Rajkot, Saurashtra defeated Bengal by nine wickets just before the lunch interval on Day IV to lift their second title this season after the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
- The tiny window of hope that Bengal had while staging a comeback evaporated when they lost overnight unbeaten batter Shahbaz Ahmed to a horrible mix-up with skipper Manoj Tiwary in the middle, who erred in calling for a non-existent third run in the sixth over of the morning. The run defeat. out of Shahbaz on 27 rang the death knell for Bengal, who lost three more wickets in the next six overs.
- Saurashtra skipper Jaydev Unadkat once again showed the way by having his Bengal counterpart Tiwary caught, much like in the first innings, at gully by Vishvarajsinh Jadeja for 68, which came off 154 balls with the help of 10 boundaries.
- Wicketkeeper-batter Abishek Porel departed without putting up any resistance, pulling Chetan Sakariya to deep square leg in the very next over. Unadkat got rid of Akash Deep and Akash Ghatak in quick succession as Bengal stared at an innings defeat.