Bengal T20 Challenge 2020: Karan Lal, Gitmoy Basu shine as Calcutta Customs Club and Town Club pick up wins
Local stars Gitmoy Basu and Karan Lal were in the limelight after guiding their teams to victory on matchday three of the Bengal T20 Challenge.
Both players fulfilled their respective roles with some extra support from the others to help their team grasp four full points.
Town Club sit atop the table after today's victory whereas Calcutta Customs Club move a spot above in the points table. East Bengal Club, who were considered favorites, slipped to the bottom after two consecutive defeats.
Calcutta Customs Club vs Tapan Memorial Club (Match 5)
The Calcutta based club were put in to bat first after losing the toss. Opening batsman Abhishek Das contributed 23 runs for his team while Agniv Pan (48 off 41) played a crucial innings for the batting side. Tapan Club's bowlers had a good time as they held their opponents to a below-par score.
Royal Challengers Bangalore spinner Shahbaz Ahmed picked up the first wicket today to dismiss Abhishek Das on 23, while Ramesh Prasad struck twice in a single over to dismiss the middle order batsmen cheaply.
Sandipan Das Sr claimed three wickets for 18 runs but his efforts went in vain as his team failed to chase down 122 runs in 20 overs.
Tapan Memorial managed to score just 110 for the loss of eight wickets. Off Spinner Karan Lal bowled his career-best figures (3/13), and sent the top three Tapan batsmen back to the pavilion early to guide his side to victory.
Brief Score
Calcutta Customs Club: 121/8 in 20 overs (Agniv Pan 48, Abhishek Das 23; Sandipan Das Sr 3/18, Ramesh Prasad 2/20) vs Tapan Memorial Club: 110/8 in 20 overs (Shahbaz Ahmed 30, Kaif Ahmed 22; Karan Lal 3/13, Shreyan Chakraborty 2/21)
Result: Calcutta Customs Club won by 11 runs
Town Club vs East Bengal Club (Match 6)
Being put into bat first, Town Club notched up a decent total of 142 on the board. The top three batsmen contributed 60 runs altogether, but the middle order failed to read the bowlers and lost their wickets with just single-digit scores to their name.
Coming out to bat at no. 7, Gitmoy Basu led his side to 142 with a quickfire knock. The right-handed wicket-keeper batsman scored an unbeaten 45 off just 19 balls to help his side put pressure on the opposition batsmen.
East Bengal Club were depending on SRH's wicketkeeper Shreevats Goswami to lead from the front but, the 31-year-old player failed to get going once again. He was dismissed for a duck after facing nine balls.
Md Kaif conceded 31 runs during his four-over spell but scalped three wickets which proved to be crucial for Town Club. Pacers Ananta Shah and Aziz Ansar picked up two wickets each to add more trouble to East Bengal's batting woes.
Bengal's off-spinner Arnab Nandi scored a half-century during the second innings,but his contribution wasn't enough as his side eventually fell short by 14 runs.
Brief Score
Town Club: 142/7 in 20 overs (Gitmoy Basu 45*, Sudip Kumar Gharami 35; Akash Pandey 2/24, Arnab Nandi 1/23) vs East Bengal Club: 128/8 in 20 overs (Arnab Nandi 55*, Ranjot Singh Khaira 24; Md Kaif 3/31, Ananta Saha 2/14)
Result: Town Club won by 14 runs