Triple Crown for Mohun Bagan Cricket team after 9 years

Mohun Bagan cricket team won the triple crown today after 9 years, when they defeated Kalighat in CAB Knockout final held at the Eden Gardens. Earlier, Mohun Bagan won the A. N. Ghosh Trophy and J. C. Mukherjee 20/20 Trophy defeating Kalighat and East Bengal in the final of the respective tournaments.

There is, however, still chance for Mohun Bagan to increase their tally if they manage to win the 5th and last tournament of the season, P. Sen Trophy.

Abhishek Jhunjhunwala's allround performance helped Mohun Bagan to win this title. He excelled in both batting and bowling today.

Mohun Bagan won the toss and elected to bat first. Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Anustup Majumdar and Laxmi Ratan Shukla made significant contributions in batting scoring 67 off 76 balls, 52 off 64 balls and 55 off 52 balls respectively.

Arindam Ghosh made a useful innings of 25 runs off 27 balls towards the end of the innings, and the 6th wicket partnership between Laxmi Ratan Shukla and Arindam Ghosh ensured Mohun Bagan reach a target of 259/8 in the stipulated 45 overs. Captain Sanjib Sanyal remained not out at 10 off 5 balls.

Sanjib Sanyal struck in the 1st over itself and kept pressure on Kalighat batsman. Abhishek Jhunjhunwala took 2 wickets in quick succession and Kalighat were clearly struggling at 39/4 after 9 overs.

Tight and disciplined bowling from Mohun Bagan bowlers ensured that the asking run rate of Kalighat kept on increasing and eventually Kalighat were restricted to just 211/7 in 45 overs.

Sanjib Sanyal (2/31) and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala (2/22) took 2 wickets each for Mohun Bagan.

After this emphatic win, star performer of today's match Abhishek Jhunjhunwala said, "Mohun Bagan won triple crown after 9 years, so we are very happy. I am more or less satisfied with my batting performance today, though I wanted to score 100, but you know it is not at all easy to bat in this heat."

Laxmi Ratan Shukla said, "Today, you will notice I made 55 runs where I did not hit a single over-boundary because I had to take extra responsibility. My partnership with Arindam was very vital today which helped Mohun Bagan to make 250 plus runs. Winning 3 trophies is always special. We will try to win the 4th tournament also."

Mohun Bagan cricket team will play against Tapan Memorial in P. Sen Trophy on Friday. The match will be held at the Eden Gardens.