da betano casino： The Wills Trophy quarterfinal clash between Bengal and Punjab at theMA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai on Tuesday was expected to be aclose game
11-Jan-2000The Wills Trophy quarterfinal clash between Bengal and Punjab at theMA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai on Tuesday was expected to be aclose game. But it turned out to be lop sided with Bengal running outcomfortable winners by five wickets with 4.4 overs to spare.Opting to bat first, Punjab were a major disappointment. OpenersVikram Rathour and Sandeep Sharma were dismissed by the time the scorewas 29 in the seventh over. Then commenced the only notable stand ofthe innings – 58 runs for the third wicket off 13.4 overs betweenPankaj Dharmani (33) and A Kakkar (41). Following this, only D Mongia(22) and Amit Sharma (39) made valuable contributions. The last fivewickets fell for 35 runs in 9.5 overs and the Punjab total was aninadequate 196 in 49.4 overs. Opening bowler S Panda was the mostsuccessful bowler with three for 36.Medium pacer Sandeep Sharma gave Punjab some hopes by dismissing bothopeners Nikhil Haldipur and LR Shukla in successive overs by the timethe score was 33. The left handed Rohan Gavaskar also did not lastlong and Bengal were 60 for three in 16 overs. However veteran SrikantKalyani and experienced wicketkeeper Saba Karim put Bengal on the roadto recovery with a fourth wicket partnership of 64 runs off 15.4overs. Karim was then out for 32. He faced 56 balls and hit threefours and a six. Charanjeet Singh was out quickly but Kalyani playedsome thrilling strokes and he and skipper Utpal Chatterjee, who hitout boldly steered Bengal to a convincing victory. Chatterjee’sunbeaten 29 was compiled off 34 balls with three fours and a six. Butthe star was clearly Kalyani who remained unconquered on 81. He faced99 balls and hit 12 fours. Sandeep Sharma was the pick of the bowlersfinishing with three for 34 off nine overs.