Vijay Hazare Trophy | Swashbuckling Porel leads the charge with a superb century

Abishek Porel shines with unbeaten 170 as Bengal defeats Delhi in Group-E match at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium.

It was Abishek Porel show! The 22-year-old Porel served another reminder of his growing reputation with a brilliant, unbeaten 170 (130b, 18x4, 7x6) to fashion Bengal’s six-wicket win over Delhi in the Group-E match at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Saturday.

Chasing a challenging total which merited the right blend of caution and aggression, Porel, the wicket-keeper-batter was equal to the task.

Playing late really helped him come up with some extravagant strokes. Though he was lucky to be dropped twice (on 25 and then on 92), the southpaw showed his competence in guiding the team through.

When he crossed the three-figure mark, Porel indulged in Shubman Gill-like celebrations. And, more importantly, he stayed till the end against an attack which included stars like Ishant Sharma and Navdeep Saini.

The Delhi bowling attack rarely tested the batters despite getting opener Karan Lal (5) in the fourth over as Bengal stitched useful partnerships with Anustup Majumdar (37, 39b, 3x4, 1x6) being the other main scorer to keep the bowlers at bay.

Earlier, Delhi scored what looked an imposing 272 for seven in 50 overs thanks to handy contributions from opener Vaibhav Kandpal (47, 67b, 3x4, 1x6), captain Ayush Badoni (41, 56b, 5x4) at the top and with Himmat Singh chipping in with a breezy 60 (57b, 7 x4, 1x6) and wicketkeeper-batter Anuj Rawat (79 n.o., 66b, 9x4, 2x6).

It was a creditable show by the Bengal bowlers for most of the innings on a batter-friendly pitch and Delhi owed its total to a crucial 101-run stand for the sixth wicket between Himmat and Rawat, the latter opened up to play some wonderful strokes in the slog overs.