Mahendra Singh Dhoni enthralled one and all with some breathtaking sixes but a young Bengal side put up a spirited display to beat Jharkhand by 41 runs and enter the Vijay Hazare final here on Saturday.
They will meet Tamil Nadu in the final.
Bengal had lost to Dinesh Karthik and Co In the two successive finals of 2008-09 and 2009-10.
Riding on twin hundreds by Abhimanyu Easwaran (101) and Shreevats Goswami (101) and a blistering 75 from skipper Manoj Tiwary, Bengal scored an imposing 329 for four in 50 overs.
But one of the greatest finishers of the game, Dhoni took the battle back to the enemy camp, hitting 70 off 62 balls, before they were bundled out for 288 in 50 overs. The four sixes were vintage Dhoni and the 2000-odd spectators who had come to watch him in action were not disappointed.
However Ojha bowled the most important delivery of his entire stint with Bengal as he got one to turn away from Dhoni clipping off bail. The match was won and lost with that single delivery from Ojha.