Bengal ride on Gharami's 299 to sail into semi-finals
Shahbaz Ahmed was Bengal's best bowler in the second innings, taking four wickets as Andhra were bowled out for 244 despite Nitish Kumar Reddy's fighting 90
ESPNcricinfo staff
Feb 10, 2026, 9:48 AM • 4 hrs ago
Shahbaz Ahmed picked up four wickets in the second Andhra innings • Garima Agarwal/CAB
Bengal 629 (Gharami 299, Gandhi 95, Rasheed 4-63) beat Andhra 295 (Bhui 83, Mukesh 5-66, Akash Deep 4-79) and 244 (Reddy 90, Shahbaz 4-72) by an innings and 90 runs
Andhra were always out of the contest in their Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Bengal. The only question, after they started the final day in Kalyani on 64 for 3 in their second innings - behind by 270 runs, thanks to Sudip Gharami's 299 - was whether they would be able to deny their opponents an outright win. Nitish Kumar Reddy did his bit towards that, but there wasn't much else from Andhra, and Bengal ran out victors by an innings and 90 runs.
Ricky Bhui, Andhra's top-scorer in the first innings, was the first to fall on the day, becoming Shahbaz Ahmed's second wicket of the innings. Shahbaz added the wicket of Saurabh Kumar soon after, and then removed Reddy later in the day to finish with 4 for 72, after the quicks - Mukesh Kumar (5 for 66) and Akash Deep (4 for 79) - had done all the damage the first time out.
After Bhui, KV Sasikanth and Saurabh had fallen in quick succession in the morning, leaving Andhra on 96 for 6, Reddy and Kalidindi Raju put together a stand of 57, and Reddy put up an even bigger stand, of 85, with No. 9 T Vijay, who scored 46.
Reddy looked like he would bring up a century but became the eighth wicket to fall, to Shahbaz, for 90 off 144 balls, with seven fours and two sixes. The end came soon after that, with wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat absent because of an injury.
Bengal will now take on Jammu and Kashmir in the semi-final from February 15. Karnataka and Uttarakhand face off in the other semi-final.