Mohammed Shami‘s three-wicket burst carried Bengal to an eight-wicket win over Hyderabad in Group A of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on Monday.
Shami, who is playing his first white-ball tournament after last year’s ODI World Cup, took 3 for 21 in 3.3 overs as Bengal bowled out Hyderabad for 137 in 18.3 overs.
He received good support from Karan Lal and Shahbaz Ahmed who bagged two wickets apiece.
India batter Tilak Varma made a 44-ball 57 but he could not guide his side to a bigger total.
In reply, Bengal faced little trouble in scaling down the target in 17.5 overs.
Openers Abhishek Porel (41) and Karan (46) made 84 runs in 9.5 overs and Bengal never let the momentum slip from there.
Meanwhile, India middle-order batter Rinku Singh made an unbeaten 24-ball 45 as Uttar Pradesh breezed past Himachal Pradesh’s 100 in just 13.3 overs to register a seven-wicket win in Group C.
Former India legspinner Piyush Chawla took 4 for 12, while pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who on Monday was bought by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for INR 10.75 crore in the IPL mega auction, chipped in with wicket.
