Shami collects seven-wicket match-haul on competitive return as Bengal defeat MP in Ranji thriller

Mohammed Shami finished with seven wickets in his first competitive appearance in a year as Bengal pulled off a thrilling 11-run victory over Madhya Pradesh in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group C encounter in Indore on Saturday. Shami collected 3/102 while left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed ran through the opposition batting lineup with figures of 4/48 as Madhya Pradesh were bowled out for 326 after they were set 338 to win at the Holkar Stadium.

Shami thus finished with a match haul of seven wickets in his first competitive appearance since last year’s ICC World Cup final against Australia in Ahmedabad, his figures of 4/54 having helped Bengal bowl MP out for 167 in the first innings and collect a valuable 61-run lead in the process.

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With the 34-year-old pacer making a successful comeback in the Ranji Trophy, it remains to be seen if the Indian team management considers bringing him to Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which gets underway in Perth on 22 November.

The Indian team management as well as the Ajit Agarkar will be keen to assess how Shami responds to the rigours of bowling more than 40 overs across the last four days, and might even suggest him to play a couple of white-ball games in the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy before taking a call over his participation in the Australia Test series, which will conclude in January in Sydney.

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Resuming from their overnight score of 150/3, set batter Rajat Patidar was cleaned up by Shami in the third delivery of the fourth and final day, departing without adding to his overnight score of 32. MP would then lose their fifth wicket with more than half of the runs still left to score after Harpreet Singh was dismissed by Mohammad Kaif on 7.

However, half-centuries from captain Shubham Sharma (61) and all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer (52) as well as handy contributions from lower-order batters Saransh Jain (32) and Aryan Pandey (22) ensured Madhya Pradesh remained alive in the chase till the very end and nearly pulled off a victory for the ages.

Shahbaz was adjudged the Player of the Match for his all-round display in Indore, having scored a defiant 92 in the first innings before his four-fer in the second essay.