A five-wicket haul by A Dinda guided Bengal to a thrilling 14-run victory over Punjab with a day to spare in the Ranji Trophy Elite encounter in Mohali on Saturday.
Punjab, who did well to bowl out Bengal for 148 in their second innings, made a mess of chasing the modest target of 147 and were skittled out for 133 on the third day of the match at the PCA Stadium.
Dinda starred for Bengal and struck at regular intervals while skipper Sourav Ganguly, who made 6 and 43 in the two innings, chipped in with two wickets, including that of key batsman Reetinder Singh Sodhi (23).
The former Indian captain had also taken three wickets in the first innings to help bowl out Punjab for 157, just a run more than Bengal's score.
The sole resistance for Punjab today came from G Gupta who made 41 runs and fought till the end before falling to Dinda.
Earlier, Bengal resuming at the overnight score of 112 for 4, were bowled out for 148 in 50 overs with Abhishek Jhunjhunwala top scoring with 46.
For Punjab, V R V Singh was the most successful bowler in the second innings claiming four wickets while L Ablash picked three and Gagandeep Singh took two wickets.
Scorecard
Bengal (1st innings): 156
Punjab (1st innings): 157
Bengal (2nd innings):
S Das c Gupta b Ablash 6
Arindam Das c Dharmani b Ablash 0
A Jhunjhunwala c Gupta b Gagandeep Singh 46
R Gavaskar lbw b Ablash 0
S Ganguly lbw b Gagandeep Singh 43
D Dasgupta c Goel b Singh 21
L Shukla lbw b Singh 8
S Lahiri b Singh 7
R Bose b Singh 2
Eklak Ahmid run out (Sodhi) 0
A Dinda not out 0
Extras: (b 1, lb 4, nb 10) 15
Total: (all out; 50 overs; 252 mins) 148
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-7, 3-7, 4-77, 5-121, 6-137, 7-137, 8-143, 9-143, 10-148.
Bowling: Gagandeep Singh 16-4-40-2, L Ablash 14-4-34-3, VRV Singh 14-1-53-4, A Uniyal 5-1-12-0, Rajesh Sharma 1-0-4-0.
Punjab (2nd innings):
R S Ricky c Dasgupta b Dinda 7
K Goel lbw b Bose 5
Muneesh Sharma c Arindam Das b Dinda 10
P Dharmani b Bose 11
R Sodhi b Ganguly 23
G Gupta c & b Dinda 41
A Uniyal c Dasgupta b Dinda 8
Gagandeep Singh lbw b Eklak Ahmid 7
Rajesh Sharma hit wicket b Dinda 11
VRV Singh c Arindam Das b Ganguly 1
L Ablash not out 3.
Extras: (b 4, lb 2) 6
Total: (all out; 59.3 overs; 280 mins) 133
Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-17, 3-36, 4-54, 5-64, 6-86, 7-102, 8-118, 9-119, 10-133.
Bowling: R Bose 16-4-35-2, A Dinda 19.3-3-57-5,S Ganguly 18-4-31-2, Eklak Ahmid 6-3-4-1.
