Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Vivek Singh stars as Bengal beats Jharkhand by 16 runs

Opener Vivek Singh hammered a 64-ball 100 (13 fours, 3 sixes) to star in Bengal's 16-run win against Jharkhand in a Elite Group B match the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament here on Tuesday. The home team notched up its second straight win, following a victory over Odisha on the opening day (January 10).

Opting to bat first at Eden Gardens, Bengal rode on left-handed Singh's stroke-filled century to make 161 for 6 in 20 overs.

After a first wicket partnership of 60 between Vivek and Shreevats Goswami (27, 28 balls, 3 fours), the home team faltered as none of the other batsmen got going. The Odisha bowlers did well to hit back after a solid start by Vivek and Goswami and picked up the important wickets of skipper Anustup Majumdar and Manoj Tiwary to stymie the Bengal scoring.

In reply, Jharkhand saw opener Anand Singh (13) fall in the third over. Captain Ishan Kishan (22) and Virat Singh (47, 35 balls, 4 fours, 2 sixes) raised 38 runs for the second wicket.

When the duo was looking to up the scoring rate, Kishan was snared by Arnab Nandi. The wickets of Kumar Suraj, Pankaj Kumar and Virat in quick succession pegged Jharkhand back further.

Despite some aggression shown by Utkarsh Singh (28, 14 balls, 3 fours, 2 sixes), Jharkhand fell short by 16 runs. In another match in the group, Hyderabad pulled off a six-run win over Odisha.

Brief scores:

Bengal 161 for 6 in 20 overs (Vivek Singh 100 not out, Shreevats Goswami 27, Monu Kumar 3/30) beat Jharkhand 145 for 9 in 20 overs (Virat Singh 47, Utkarsh Singh 28) by 16 runs.

Bengal: 4 points, Jharkhand: 0.

Hyderabad 153 for 8 in 30 overs (Tilak Varma 44, Tanmay Agarwal 34, Suryakant Pradhan 3/34) beat Odisha 147 for 4 in 20 overs (Govinda Poddar 50, Subhransu Senapati 42 not out, Rajesh Dhupar 30 not out, C V Milind 2/24) by six runs.

Hyderabad: 4 points, Odisha: 0.