All-rounder Laxmi Ratan Shukla hit a magnificent century to single-handedly guide Bengal to a six-wicket victory over Mumbai in the final of the Vijay Hazare tournament in Delhi on Monday.
The 31-year-old, who has never done justice to his talent, finally came good when it mattered most.
His effort helped Bengal chase down the target of 249, with 23 balls to spare, and win their first National One-Day championship in the fourth attempt.
Shukla, whose four for 38 had earlier restricted Mumbai, showed his big-hitting prowess, remaining not out on 106 off only 90 balls.
His innings included 12 boundaries and two sixes -- one off Ankit Chavan that hit the third tier of the Feroz Shah Kotla stand, and the other, off Kshemal Waingankar, that went over the deep mid-wicket boundary.
With in-form batsman Anushtup Majumdar (50 not out), Shukla took the Mumbai attack to the cleaners, adding 107 runs for the unbroken fifth wicket stand in under 14 overs.
The winning stroke came off Anushtup's bat as the ball raced to the boundary even as the whole Bengal squad ran to the pitch.
Credit should also be given to skipper Ganguly (38, 53 balls, 6x4) and Shreevats Goswami (42, 73 balls, 3x4) for adding 69 valuable runs after Subhamoy Das was trapped leg before by Ajit Agarkar.
Ganguly suffered cramps but still produced a signature cover-drive, a pull off Agarkar and one over extra cover off Waingankar.
Incidentally, it was also Ganguly's maiden national title as Bengal captain, having made his first-class debut way back in 1990.
Opting to bat, Mumbai opener Wasim Jaffer blazed his way to a 41-ball-50 as they reached 76 for no loss in 10 overs.
However, Shukla scripted a turnaround, as he first bowled Jaffer (61, 48 balls, 10x4, 1x6), who played to a wrong line, and then induced an edge off Rahane for Shreevats Goswami behind the stumps.
Anup Revandkar (15) was trapped in front as Mumbai were reduced to 108 for three in the 21st over.
Shukla's first spell read 7-1-17-3.
After Abhishek Nayar (11) and Iqbal Abdulla (1) departed in quick succession.
Suryakumar Yadav (50, 68 balls, 7x4) and Aditya Tare (35) played a good hand, but Yadav played a loose shot off Sourav Sarkar's bowling to hand a dolly to Wriddhiman Saha at cover.
Once Yadav was gone, Mumbai's chances of posting a big score also went up in smoke.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai 248 all out in 49.2 overs (W Jaffer 61, S Yadav 50, LR Shukla 4/38).
Bengal 252-4 in 46.1 overs (LR Shukla 106 not out, A Majumdar 50 not out).
Bengal won by six wickets.
