haryana 298 for 9 (Sindhu 64, Bhatt 62, Shami 3-61) beats. Bengal 226 (Porel 57, Vats 3-33, Sindhu 2-36) 72 runs.
Important contributions from the lower order – Sumit Kumar’s unbeaten 41 off 32 balls and Rahul Tewatia’s 29 – strengthened Haryana to 298 for 9.
Another player of interest from a national team perspective, Abhimanyu Easwaran has been key to Bengal’s chase. With openers Sudip Gharami and Abishek Porel putting on 70 in 12.5 overs for the first wicket, Abhimanyu was given a chance to steer Bengal’s innings, but showed signs of rust after two months on India’s Test bench in Australia.
After surviving a narrow appeal, Abhimanyu tried to escape with a series of reverse sweeps. Eventually the pressure of not scoring fluently got to him and he went out to attempt a slog sweep against mystery spinner Amit Rana.
Forell kept the Bengals alive with his half-century, but he played a large portion of his 57 off 78 balls conservatively. His dismissal exposed Bengal’s fragile middle order in the 28th over and Vats dismissed Anustup Majumdar, Karan Lal and Shami to help Haryana wrap up their chase for 226 in 43.1 overs.
Haryana will face Gujarat in the quarterfinals in Vadodara on January 12.
