Punjab Under-19 comprehensively beat Bengal Under-19 to lift the Vinoo Mankad Trophy 2013-14 in Ahmedabad. SB Lal claimed the top order to put Punjab Under-19 in a commanding position and the rest of the bowlers followed up with wickets at regular intervals to bowl their team to a 96-run victory in the domestic one-day tournament.
Chasing 237, Bengal opener Aniket Keshri was run out in the third over, while Lal followed up with the wicket of Shubhrajit Das 16 runs later. And a few overs later, Lal dismissed SS Gosh and RR Roy Chowdhary off consecutive overs to leave the opposition on 55 for four. In the next over, AR Easwaran was trapped leg-before by KS Kaila without any addition to the total.
With half the side back in the dressing room and the Bengal colts needing 182, the pressure was mounting on the team from the East. And Lal pushed them further on the back foot by removing AS Pan to leave the Bengal boys reeling on 56 for six in the 16th over. He was soon followed back by SM Chatterjee. And though AA Gani resisted with a 39-ball 22 lower down the order, there was little that he could do to salvage the innings. Not letting the opposition build partnerships, the Punjab boys maintained their stranglehold on the Bengal batsmen as they closed in on the win.
Arjun Kumar, who removed Chatterjee, also claimed P B Chakraborty lbw. And Gani was accounted for by AG Pannu soon after the batsman had taken his team past the three-figure mark. AS Tiwari and PG Kundu stretched the innings with a 39-run partnership for the last wicket until PK Sharma struck to send back the latter and end the innings for 140.
Earlier, opting to bat first, Punjab Under-19 made 236 for six. Karan Sharma was run out with just six runs on the board, and a few overs later, his opening partner Prabjot Singh was removed by PB Chakraborty. But No.3 batsman Anmolpreet Singh held up one end and stabilised the innings. The top-order batsman scored a 92-ball 79 to take the team to 130, before being the fifth batter to depart. Besides Anmolpreet, NS Chaudhary's 55 in the lower-middle order helped the team post a respectable target for Bengal.
Bengal U-19’s PB Chakraborty was the leading wicket-taker for his team with four wickets.
