Thiruvananthapuram : Bengal defeated Kerala by 287 runs at KCA Cricket Ground, Thiruvananthapuram to make hattrick of victories in Ranji Trophy 2026-27. Shahbaz Ahmed, Pradipta Pramanik displayed outstanding performance behind this win.
Batting first, Bengal lost captain Abhimanyu Easwaran (10) early. They kept losing wickets at the other end but Ankur Paul (66) gave great support scoring half century. Just as Bengal were struggling at 170-6, Shahbaz Ahmed (121) yet again became saviour. He scored 121 (203) with 4 sixes and 8 boundaries also supported by Sumanta Gupta (49), Pradipta Pramanik (27) from other end. Bengal posted 350. For Kerala, Aditya Sarwate (4/95) and N. Basil (3/64) starred with the Ball.
Kerala coming to Bat struggled straight away. Pradipta (4/44) grabbed 4 wickets while ace pacer Md Shami (3/35) picked 3 wickets. Centurion Shahbaz (2/22) also took 2 wickets to make vital contributions with Ball. Apart from captain Vishnu Vinod (41) and Md Azharudden (30*) no one impressed for Kerala as they’re bundled on just 141.
With first innings lead advantage, Bengal aimed for win. Abhimanyu Easwaran (47), Sudip Chatterjee (34) showed their mettle on a tough spinning track. Shami (26) also made crucial contributions at number 10 amidst loss of wickets to veteran Jalaj Saxena as Bengal posted 198 setting 408 runs target. Saxena grabbed 5 wickets while Aditya took 3.
Chasing 408 on spinning Pitch, Kerala never settled. Pradipta washed away the top order with figures of 6/51, while Shami and Shahbaz picked 2 wickets. Bengal demolished Kerala on final day for 120 runs, earning massive 287 runs victory. Shahbaz was awarded Player of the match for his all-round display.
Bengal will next host Prithvi Shaw led Maharashtra at Eden Gardens, Kolkata from November (1-5). The Easwaran led Bengal team is currently sitting on Group C table top with 18 points.
Brief Scorecard :
BEN – 350 & 198
KER – 141 & 120
Result : Bengal won by 287 runs.
