Dhoni helps Bihar to a eight wicket win

A fine 84 by opener MS Dhoni helped Bihar score a eight wicket win over Tripura in the East Zone Ranji Trophy One-Day Tournament match at the Calcutta Cricket and Football Ground in the West Bengal capital on Saturday.

Set to score 199 for win, the Bihar openers N Ranjan (42) and Dhoni gave a solid start to the run chase adding 69 runs in 11 overs. Ranjan was the first to be dismissed falling leg before to S Roy. Then T Rehman (51 not out) joined Dhoni to take the score to 147 when Dhoni found himself short of the crease while trying for a run. The throw from S Bose found the target to end a 99 minute stay at the crease. This brought the Bihar skipper Rajiv Kumar to the middle. Rehman and Rajiv took the team to victory with an unbeaten 55 run partnership.

Earlier, opting to bat, Tripura were tottering at 48 for 4 when C Sachdev (70) and Rajib Dutta (44) forged a 95 run fifth wicket stand. Anshuman Raj ran through the lower order to leave them at 198 for 8. Anshuman Raj was the most successfull bowler for Bihar with figures of 4 for 39.