File photo – Shreevats Goswami’s 74 at the top helped Bengal chase down Maharashtra’s target of 319 with one ball to spare © AFP
A last-over thriller saw Bengal chase down Maharashtra’s target of 319 to complete a four-wicket win at Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla. Half centuries from opener Shreevats Goswami (74 off 88 balls), Anustup Majumdar (66 off 59 balls) and Sudip Chatterjee (unbeaten on 60 off 51 balls) secured Bengal’s win after Maharashtra’s Rahul Tripathi (95 off 74 balls) and Nikhil Naik (63 off 52 balls) took them to 318 for 6 in their 50 overs.
Maharashtra hit 109 runs off their last ten overs after Tripathi and Naik took them near the 300-run mark before some late strikes from Shrikant Mundhe (20*) and Shamsuzama Kazi (20*) gave Bengal a stiff target to chase. Earlier forties from Ruturaj Gaikwad (43) and Kedar Jadhav (44) gave Maharashtra a strong base from which Tripathi and Naik took off.
Bengal lost opener Abhimanyu Easwaran early in their chase but Goswami combined with Agniv Pan (47 off 37 balls) to take Bengal past hundred. Manoj Tiwary (40) took over after Goswami was lbw to Jadhav, but it was the 117-run fifth-wicket partnership (which came off 93 balls) between Majumdar and Chatterjee that really kept Bengal in the hunt. After Majumdar was out in 49th over, with Bengal needing 15 runs off 10 balls, Chatterjee held his nerves along with Aamir Gani – who hit a crucial six in his two-ball stay – to hit the second-last ball of the match for a four and take Bengal to the semi-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Jharkhand’s bowlers set up a comfortable target for their batsmen to chase in a six-wicket win at Delhi’s Model Sports Complex after restricting Vidarbha to 159 for 9 in the first innings. Jharkhand’s batsmen then paced their chase to perfection, reaching the 160 target with 29 balls to spare. Ishank Jaggi remained unbeaten at 41 while openers Pratyush Singh (33) and Ishan Kishan (35) put up a 68-run first-wicket partnership that propelled the chase.
Vidarbha, choosing to bat, started poorly as they fell from 9 for no loss to 9 for 3 in the space of six balls. Soon they were at 42 for 5 and in a lot of trouble before Ganesh Satish scored 35 off 54 balls. Satish fell in the 25th over lbw to Kaushal Singh with Vidarbha at 80 for 6 but a 61-run eighth-wicket partnership between Ravi Jangid (62) and Rajneesh Gurbani (22) assured Vidarbha batted the 50 overs out. Jharkhand, who effected three run outs in the innings, were left to chase 160 for a semi-final spot. Monu Kumar stood out with figures of 2 for 27.
After Pratyush and Kishan added 68 runs for the first wicket, both batsmen were bowled by Ravikumar Thakur. Scores of 17 from Kumar Deobrat and and Saurabh Tiwary took Jharkhand closer to the 160 target before Jaggi’s 41, alongside MS Dhoni’s unbeaten 18, took them home in the 46th over.
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo