KOLKATA: A 134-run opening-wicket stand between
Shreevats Goswami and
Vivek Singh helped Bengal make a winning start in the
Syed Mushtaq Ali East Zone
T20 meet in Ranchi on Monday. The two southpaws toyed with the bowling as Bengal won by seven wickets after Odisha put up 157 for 5 on winning the toss.
Singh, making a comeback, played in his usual belligerent manner and took the attack to the rivals from the word go. Bengal raced to 50 in 5.2 overs and 100 in 10 overs only. Goswami's half-century came off 29 balls while Singh reached the mark in 32 balls.
Just when it seemed the duo will take Bengal home, a mix-up saw Singh being run out for 64 (43 balls, 5x4, 3x6). Although Bengal lost skipper
Manoj Tiwary (3) cheaply and Goswami departed for 79 (52b, 4x9, 2x6), Sudip Chatterjee and Anustup Majumdar completed the formalities with eight balls to spare.
A satisfied Goswami said the surface was hard and the ball came on to the bat nicely. "I was striking the ball well which gave me a lot of confidence," he was quoted as saying on the CAB website. "Vivek also played a mature innings and took the pressure off me," he added.
Earlier, the Bengal bowlers did well to restrict Odisha after their openers Rajesh Dhuper and skipper Anurag Sarangi gave them a flying start and brought up 50 in five overs. Dhuper hit eight fours and two sixes in his 64-ball 90-run, but it wasn't enough in the end. Skipper Tiwary rolled his arms to return with two wickets from his three overs while Writtick Chatterjee also got the same number of scalps. The only area of concern for Bengal was their main bowlers going wicketless in this match.
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