A classy maiden unbeaten century from Vivek Singh in the shortest format of the game ensured full points for Bengal in their second tie of Group B of Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy at Eden Gardens today.
Batting first Bengal made 161 for six.
Needing 162 to win Jharkhand finished at 145 for 9 giving Bengal a 16 run victory.
Today it was about some flamboyant batting from Bengal opener Vivek Singh. He paced his innings beautifully, never letting the fall of wickets at regular intervals disturb his momentum.
Vivek dedicated his maiden tonne to his father Birendra Singh and said: “It was satisfying to hit a century to a winning cause of Bengal. I would like to dedicate this to my father.”
He was particularly severe on Rahul Shukla and Monu. Vivek looked razor sharp and focussed as he punished the bad deliveries and manouevered the good ones to remain unbeaten on 100 off just 64 deliveries with 13 boundaries and three sixes.
“Our opening partnership is doing well. I am sent to do a task and the fact that I am able to do it properly is very satisfying. Our bowlers are bowling well. We are putting up competitive score. We are winning and that matters,” he added.
Earlier, Bengal won the toss and elected to bat. The home team began in right earnest with the opening pair of Shreevats Goswami and Vivek Singh adding 60 for the first wicket with the former contributing 27. Manoj Tiwary made 12 in the otherwise indifferent Bengal batting today that flattered to deceive as they tried to force the pace of scoring.
Beginning their quest, skipper Ishan Kishan 22 off 25 balls, Utkarsh Singh (28 off 14 balls) and Anukul Roy (18 off 16) kept them in the hunt, after a fluid 47 off 35 balls by Virat Singh gave their chase the right momentum.
But Jharkhand lost wickets regularly as the Bengal bowlers never allowed the batters to get into a rhythm. Ishan Porel was again the pick of the bowlers taking 3 for 34. Writtick returned with figures of two for 25 from his four overs.
CAB Media