Manoj Tiwary led from the front with an unbeaten 116 off just 94 balls as Bengal cruised past Goa to an eight-wicket win here on Tuesday.
Chasing a modest total of 214, Tiwary and opener Abhimanyu Easwaran came together for an unbeaten third wicket partnership of 169 in just 152 balls as Bengal romped home with 14.1 overs to spare.
After opener Shreevats Goswami was dismissed cheaply, Easwaran gave the initial momentum to the chase with stylish shots — identical shots off his pads to fine-leg boundary off pacer Felix Alemao on consecutive deliveries in the eighth over — before he settled to play second fiddle to his skipper.
Tiwary who walked out in the 11th over wasted no time in getting into the groove as he freely played his shots against spinners. The Bengal skipper started out hitting left-arm spinner Amulya Pandrekar for a boundary and a six off consecutive deliveries to get going. The 31-year old Tiwary targeted the cover boundary regularly in his knock which included 13 fours and three sixes. He rushed through the 90s with two consecutive boundaries off Alemao to get to 98 quickly.
Earlier Goa, just like in the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy, squandered a good start as it slumped from 114 for one to 213 for nine in 50 overs.
Electing to bat, Goa started cautiously, scoring four runs per over throughout the innings. However the team failed to capitalise on a solid foundation, losing wickets in a heap between the 33rd and 43rd over.
Opener Swapnil Asnodkar started off with a few boundaries before he was dismissed caught at short midwicket off left-arm pacer Kanishk Seth. Number three batsman Amogh Desai then built on the platform with two solid partnerships, first with opener Sumiran Amonkar, who had to retire with cramps, and then with Snehal Kauthankar to take Goa past 100.
After the fall of Kauthankar, Suyash Prabhudessai came out all guns blazing hitting a six and three boundaries even as Desai was inching close to 50. But in a moment of haste, Desai ran himself out on 49 trying a sharp single only to be sent back by his partner.
In the next ten overs, Goa batsmen kept throwing their wickets away, collapsing from 150 for two to 191 for eight by the 43rd over.
Brief scores:At Murugappa: Goa 213 for nine in 50 overs (Sumiran Amonkar 30, Amogh Desai 49, Suyash Prabhudessai 27, Saurabh Bandekar 32, Kanishk Seth three for 50) lost to Bengal 214 for two in 35.5 overs (Abhimanyu Eswaran 68 n.o., Manoj Tiwary 116 n.o.) Points: Bengal 4 (8); Goa 0 (0).
At MAC: Team Rajasthan 183 in 47 overs (Arjit Gupta 69, Kamlesh Nagarkoti 56 n.o.) bt Gujarat 169 in 43.1 overs (Samit Gohil 28, Rujul Bhatt 49, Bhargav Merai 51, Pankaj Singh three for 23, Kamlesh Nagarkoti three for 30 (hat-trick)). Points: Team Rajasthan 4 (4); Gujarat 0 (4);
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