Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Shreevats, Vivek star again for Bengal

KOLKATA: Shreevats Goswami and Vivek Singh maintained their red-hot form and set up a six-wicket win for Bengal against Jharkhand in the Syed Mushtaq Ali (East Zone) T20 meet at the JSCA stadium in Ranchi on Friday.
Chasing 178 runs for victory, in a virtual repeat of their last match against Odisha, the Bengal openers gave the side a flying start, adding 130 runs to lay the foundation for Bengal's convincing win.Both batsmen scored at a brisk pace, averaging almost 10 runs per over as they took full toll of Jharkhand's attack.
Singh reached his second consecutive half-century in 31 balls with the help of three fours and four sixes, while Goswami took two balls more, hitting five boundaries and two sixes.
Medium-pacer Kaushal Singh dismissed both the openers in the 14th over to give his team some respite. Singh fell for a 40-ball 63 (3x4, 5x6) after being caught by Jashkaran off the first ball of the over. Two balls later, Goswami edged one to wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan to depart for 58 which came off 41 deliveries (5x4, 2x6). Bengal lost their skipper Manoj Tiwary (8) soon after but Sudip Chatterjee (26) and Pramod Chandila (6*) virtually made the issue safe for Bengal, who reached the target with six wickets and four balls to spare.
Earlier, Jharkhand posted a challenging score of 177/9 after winning the toss thanks to a 118-run second-wicket stand between Ishan Kishan and Ishank Jaggi. The latter hit 10 boundaries and two sixes in a 39-ball 72. Kishan, who was content to play the supporting role and was unlucky to miss his half-century, falling for 49 that came off 35 balls with the help of four fours and three sixes.
"It was not an easy target chasing over eight runs an over," skipper Tiwary was quoted as saying on the CAB website. "But our openers gave us the start we needed. In bowling, we restricted them after a good start," Tiwary, who himself picked up two wickets, added.