Bengal,TN set up title clash

Laxmi Ratan Shukla led from the front as Bengal knocked out Baroda and made the Vijay Hazare Trophy final.

Laxmi Ratan Shukla led from the front as Bengal knocked out Baroda and made the Vijay Hazare Trophy final. The skipper,who has been under the scanner lately,performed with both the bat and the ball to set up an 81-run win in the semi-final on Friday.

Bengal are now finalists of the one-day championship for the second time in a row,and will take on Tamil Nadu in the title clash on Monday after the latter beat Uttar Pradesh by 34 runs in the other semi-final.

Shukla won the toss,chose to bat first,scored a cheeky 49,then turned the arm over to finish with a match-winning 3 for 33. Bengal had managed only a modest 227,but comfortably defended it in the end,restricting Barodas chase to 146 with nearly 10 overs to spare. With big names like the Pathan brothers and Munaf Patel missing for Baroda,and batsman Rajesh Solanki opting out of the tie,Bengal made the most of their opponents who had been relying too heavily on bits and pieces contributions.

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Manoj Tiwary (49) and Shreevats Goswami (43) put up an 82-run partnership for the fourth wicket,which formed the backbone of the Bengal innings. Rajesh Pawar (3 for 59) chipped in with a few key wickets,but the rest of the Baroda bowling couldnt quite make an impact. Paceman Ranadeb Bose (2 for 16) then removed Kedar Deodhar with the first ball of the innings before Shukla paired up with pacer Avik Chowdhury (2 for 34) to stifle the Baroda chase.

In the other semi-final,Suresh Kumar scored a match-winning 94 in Tamil Nadus victory. Chasing 198,Mohammad Kaifs boys folded up for 162. Left-hander Ravikant Shukla (56 not out) fell short of support as Tamil Nadu pacer Yo Mahesh dented the UP batting-card with 3 for 26.

Brief scores: Bengal 227 (M Tiwary 49,L Shukla 49; Rajesh Pawar 3/59) v Baroda 146 (R Pawar 43,S Solanki 25; L Shukla 3/33); Tamil Nadu 197 (S Kumar 94; RP Singh 3/29,B Kumar 3/31) v UP 162 (R Shukla 56*; Yo Mahesh 3/26)

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