Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy | Ghosh holds his nerve to snatch it for Bengal

Lion-hearted effort: Ghosh displayed excellent skills at the death as Bengal pulled off a heist.
| Photo Credit: K. MURALI KUMAR

An excellent spell from Sayan Ghosh (four for 30) helped Bengal edge out Chandigarh by three runs in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy pre-quarterfinal at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Monday.

The pacer, who bowls with a slinger action, prised out the Chandigarh middle-order, and returned to complete the job in the final over.

With Chandigarh needing 11 to win in the last over, Ghosh displayed steady nerves to concede only seven runs. Batting first, Bengal ran the risk of being bowled out for a cheap score after falling to 114 for eight.

Chandigarh pacer Jagjit Singh, the highest wicket-taker of the tournament, gained appreciable movement to trouble the batters.

Bengal was saved by an invaluable cameo from tailender Mohammed Shami, who slammed an unbeaten 17-ball 32. Shami’s big hits pushed Bengal to a competitive 159 for nine.

Karan Lal (33), Writtick Chatterjee (28) and Pradipta Pramanik (30) chipped in with the bat, while Jagjit returned impressive figures of four for 21.

Chandigarh stayed on track in the chase through a 45-run fifth-wicket partnership between Raj Bawa (32, 20b) and Pardeep Yadav (27, 19b).

The duo guided Chandigarh to 101 for four, before a spate of wickets derailed the team.

In the other pre-quarterfinal, Uttar Pradesh took out Andhra by four wickets.

Chasing a modest target of 157, the equation came down to 48 runs needed from four overs.

Young Vipraj Nigam stepped up with a blistering unbeaten eight-ball 27 to take Uttar Pradesh home with an over to spare.

The scores: Bengal 159/9 in 20 overs (Karan Lal 33, Writtick Chatterjee 28, Pradipta Pramanik 30, Mohammed Shami 32 n.o., Jagjit Singh 4/21) bt Chandigarh 156/9 in 20 overs (Raj Bawa 32, Pardeep Yadav 27, Sayan Ghosh 4/30).

Andhra 156/6 in 20 overs (S.D.N.V. Prasad 34 n.o.) lost to Uttar Pradesh 157/6 in 19 overs (Karan Sharma 48, Rinku Singh 27 n.o., Vipraj Nigam 27 n.o., K. Sudharsan 3/22).