Kolkata: Skipper Shahbaz Ahamed put up an all-round masterclass performance to lead from the front and guide Tapan Memorial to the Bengal T20 Challenge title beating Mohun Bagan by 33 runs on Wednesday (December 9) at Eden Gardens.
Ahamed scored 54 while batting and picked up five wickets leaking just 10 runs in his quota of four overs to help Tapan make it three in three wins against Bagan in the tournament. And the sweetest of them came on Wednesday in the final after 17 days of non-stop heart-pounding cricket.
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Earlier, Mohun Bagan won the toss and elected to bowl first. Tapan Memorial got off to a shaky start losing 4 wickets in exchange for 40 runs as Bagan pacer Akash Deep and experienced spinner Rajkumar Pal bagged 2 wickets apiece.
Skipper Shahbaz Ahamed along with in-form batter Kaif Ahamad came to the rescue of Tapan as they arrested the slide by stitching a 78-run partnership. Shahbaz smashed a fluent 41-ball 54 (2×4, 4×6) before being caught by Akash off Anurag Tiwary while Kaif stayed unbeaten on 39.
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While receiving the Man of the Match award for the final, Shahbaz said, “I have been doing it for Tapan. Last evening I had a niggle and physio Aditya da really worked hard to get me fit for today. We had a shaky start but Kaif and me had a good partnership and we were always confident that if we bowl in the right spots we could win.”
He also congratulated the CAB for hosting such a memorable tournament and said, “I am now used to staying in a bubble. But here I was with old friends and that made a big difference.”
While defending Tapan spinners lassoed opponent batter and made their life miserable to take all 10 wickets. Bagan skipper Anustup Majumdar who is the highest scorer of the tournament with 370 runs also put up a good show with the willow by fighting a lone battle with 32-ball 46.
Ramesh Prasad who became the highest wicket-taker of the tournament by bagging 23 wickets in total got two while Prayas Ray Burman, Vikash Singh, Gaurav Chauhan picked up one wicket apiece.
