Saha, Tiwary fifties steer Bengal to win

Fifties from Wriddhiman Saha and Manoj Tiwary helped Bengal cruise to an eight-wicket win over Jharkhand at Eden Gardens.

Saha and Tiwary added 97 in nearly 11 overs to guide their side's chase of 153 in 18.1 overs. While Saha was dismissed for 54 off 37, Tiwary finished unbeaten on 67 off 52 with six fours and six.

Earlier, Jharkhand failed to take advantage of a strong start by their openers, Ishank Jaggi and Ishan Kishan, who added 46 for the first wicket. Shahbaz Nadeem, promoted to No. 3, managed 7 off 12 and the side suffered further setbacks when captain Saurabh Tiwary and Kumar Deobrat were dismissed within three overs. A whirlwind 25-run, tenth-wicket partnership between Rahul Shukla and Jaskaran Singh, which came off the last two overs, lifted the side to 152 for 9.

Fast bowler Abu Nechim's 4 for 21 helped Assam edge past Tripura by 11 runs at Eden Gardens.

Chasing 153, Tripura were kept in check by Nechim who dismissed the side's openers and then took two wickets in the 14th over to leave the side at a wobbly 87 for 6. Nirupam Sen Chowdhary and Tushar Saha tried to revive the chase with brisk 20s but could only manage to reduce the margin of what looked likely to be a huge loss.

Assam's innings, after they opted to bat, was book-ended by two collapses. In between, though, a 79-run partnership Sibsankar Roy and Pritam Debnath lifted the side from 57 for 4 to 136 for 4, setting the base for a strong total. Roy scored his maiden T20 fifty, finishing with a 36-ball 53 that had eight fours. Assam squandered the opportunity, however, losing four of their last six wickets to run-outs to finish at 152.