Goa continued their unbeaten run in the Cooch Behar Trophy Elite Group ‘D’ after holding Bengal to a draw on Thursday at the Bengal Cricket Academy Ground. With three wins and a draw from four matches, Goa moved to 23 points, sealing a spot in the knockout stage with one league game still to play. Goa earned 3 points from the draw, while Bengal collected 1.
Bengal declared their second innings at 255/9 in 43 overs, setting Goa a target of 229. On a pitch favouring bowlers, Goa batted with patience to close at 126/6 in 74.5 overs, ensuring the match ended in a stalemate.
Resuming at 185/4, Bengal added 70 runs in 12 overs but lost five wickets. For Goa, Chigurupati Venkata impressed with figures of 3/58, while Shiven Borker took 2/52 and Mihir Kudalkar bagged one. Three Bengal wickets fell to run-outs.
In Goa’s second innings, skipper Yash Kasvankar led with a composed 43 off 98 balls (6×4), supported by opener Sarthak Bhike’s gritty 30 off 130 balls. Contributions from Aradhya Goyal (11*), Mihir Kudalkar (4) and Sai Naik (2*) ensured Goa held steady. Bengal’s Rohit Das and Rohit picked up two wickets each.
Goa had earlier taken a 27-run first-innings lead after posting 352 in response to Bengal’s 325. Goa will face Chandigarh in their final group fixture on December 16.
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