Vivek Singh scored his maiden century in the shortest format of the game to power Bengal to a 16-run win over Jharkhand in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at the Eden Gardens here on Tuesday.
Batting first, Bengal racked up a total of 161 runs with the help of Vivek's unbeaten 100 off 64 balls, which included 13 boundaries and three sixes. He paced his innings beautifully, never letting the fall of wickets disturb his momentum.
The home team got off to a brilliant start with the opening pair of Shreevats Goswami and Vivek adding 60 for the first wicket with the former contributing 27.
After Vivek's heroics, it was Ishan Porel's stunning display with the ball that helped Bengal secure all four points from the game. Porel scalped three wickets as Jharkhand only managed to score 145 runs from their allotted 20 overs.
Chasing the target, Jharkhand skipper Ishan Kishan scored 22 off 25 balls while Utkarsh Singh's 28 off 14 balls and Anukul Roy's 18 off 16 kept them in the hunt after a fluid 35-ball 47 by Virat Singh gave their chase the right momentum.
But Jharkhand lost wickets regularly as the Bengal bowlers never allowed the batters to get into a rhythm, thanks to Porel's brilliant performance. Also, Writtick returned with figures of two for 25 from his four overs.
After the match, Vivek dedicated his maiden century to his father Birendra Singh. "It was satisfying to hit a century to a winning cause of Bengal. I would like to dedicate this to my father," he said in a statement.
"Our opening partnership is doing well. I am sent to do a task and the fact that I am able to do it properly is very satisfying. Our bowlers are bowling well. We are putting up competitive score. We are winning and that matters," he added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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