KOLKATA: It was a story of so-near-yet-so-far for Bengal as the wait for their third Ranji Trophy title continued. The Manoj Tiwary-led side which played a catch-up game since the first session on Day I, finally threw in the towel to go down to Saurashtra by nine wickets before lunch of Day IV in the final at the Eden Gardens here on Sunday. Making the Ranji final for 15 times, Bengal ended up winning the trophy only twice so far.
The little hope of the side staging a comeback evaporated when Bengal lost overnight unbeaten batter Shahbaz Ahmed to a horrible mix-up with skipper Manoj Tiwary in the middle, who erred in calling for a non-existent third run in the sixth over of the morning. The run out of Shahbaz on 27 sounded the death knell for Bengal, who lost three more wickets in the next six overs.
