Bengal, Haryana qualify for quarters
A round-up of the twelfth day of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Twenty20 tournament
ESPNcricinfo staff
12-Mar-2011
An all-round team performance helped Bengal ease to a 31-run victory over Vidarbha at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, and sealed their place in the quarter-finals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Electing to bat, Bengal got off to a solid start as openers Anustup Majumdar and Shreevats Goswami put on a 50-run stand in seven overs. After medium-pacer Amol Jungade got rid of Majumdar for 38, captain Manoj Tiwary (top scorer with 39) joined with Goswami. While the pair maneuvered the bowling well, their running between the wickets let them down, as both were run out by Sandeep Singh. A couple of big hits towards the end by Wriddhiman Saha pushed Bengal to 167.
Vidarbha were never in a commanding position during the chase, losing wickets at regular intervals and scoring at just over a run a ball to finish their quota of overs on 136 for 7. While the Bengal bowlers shared the wickets around, Shami Ahmed was the pick with 3 for 24.
Bengal will take on Maharashtra in the quarter-final on March 14 at the same venue.
Haryana chased down a target of 141 with three balls to spare to knock out Mumbai at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on the back of steady knocks from Nitin Saini and Hemang Badani.
Mumbai began poorly, losing both openers with just one run on the board. Wasim Jaffer and Rohit Sharma steadied the innings though, before some big hitting from Abhishek Nayar and Iqbal Abdulla got Mumbai to 140.Vineet Rathee was the pick of the bowlers, picking up 3 for 33.
Haryana, too, lost their openers cheaply, before Sunny Singh was run out to leave them in trouble at 26 for 3 in the fifth over. But an 80-run fourth-wicket partnership between Badani and Saini got the innings back on track. After the pair was dismissed, Joginder Sharma and Amit Mishra struck a few boundaries to catch up with the increasing required rate and took Haryana home in the last over with four wickets in hand.
Haryana will take on Kerala in the quarter-final on March 14 at the same venue.
