Fine off-spin bowling by debutant Shamsher Singh (4-52), who was well-supported by medium fast bowler Sanjeev Sharma (3-55), helped Rajasthan beat Bengal by 152 runs in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group 'B' cricket match in Jaipur on Monday.
Chasing a mammoth target of 404, Bengal were skittled out for 251. Despite a 126-run partnership between captain Rohan Gavaskar (96) and Sanjeeb Sanyal (60), the visitors were found wanting at crucial moments.
If 20-year old Shamsher Singh was the most successful bowler, Sanjeev Sharma was impressive in the overall analysis with match figures of 9 for 73.
P Krishnakumar (2-28) and Mohammad Aslam (1-31) were the other wicket takers for Rajasthan, who grabbed four points from the match.
Bengal lost three early wickets that of Amitava Chakravarthy, Debang Gandhi and Subhomoy Das -- and were 114 for four at lunch.
But Gavaskar played some courageous shots, reaching his 50 in 118 minutes and 56 balls with six fours and a six. But the left-hander fell four short of the three-figure mark, caught by Sharma at short mid-wicket off Shamsher Singh.
His 96 came of 132 balls with 11 fours and a six.
Shamsher removed Lakshmi Ratan Shukla with the very next ball and from there on it was all downhill for the visitors.
Rajasthan take on Tamil Nadu at the same venue on Nov 15.
Scoreboard
Rajasthan (1st innings): 253
Bengal (1st innings): 118
Rajasthan (2nd innings): 268 for 5 decl.
Bengal (2nd innings):
A Chakravarthy b Krishnakumar 6
D Dasgupta lbw Krishnakumar 0
D Gandhi c Gagan b Sharma 24
R Gavaskar c Sharma b Shamsher Singh 96
S Das b Sharma 1
S Sanyal c Jhalani b Sharma 60
L R Shukla c Krishnakumar b Shamsher Singh 0
S Lahiri c Jhalani b Shamsher 9
U Chatterjee not out 21
R Bose c Jhalani b Shamsher 0
S S Paul lbw Aslam 6
Extras: (b-9, lb-2, nb-8, w-9) 28
Total: (all out in 82.1 overs) 251
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-15, 3-61, 4-76, 5-202, 6-202, 7-214, 8-218, 9-218.
Bowling: P Krishnakumar 13-4-28-2, Sumit Mathur 14-3-58-0, Sanjeev Sharma 26-9-55-3, Mohammad Aslam 13.5-5-31-1, Rahul Kanwat 8-4-16-0, Shamsher Singh 18-6-52-4.