Kolkata: Barrackpore Bashers defeated Kolkata Heores by 5 runs in a rain-soaked final on Thursday at Eden Gardens to become Byju’s Bengal T20 Challenge champion, with skipper Sudip Chatterjee leading from the front with other brilliant innings and youngster Ankur Paul hitting his first fifty of the competition.
The play was reduced to 15 overs per side. Sudip, who has been in fine form, smashed 62 and Ankur added 61 to help Barrackpore score 154/3, while Kolkata were kept to 149/6 despite Karan Lal’s tenacious 49 and Subhankar Bal’s valiant 12-ball 28 not out.
While following Aamir Gani (14) who had backed off Sujit Yadav in an attempt to get Kolkata off to a quick start, Karan remained patient.
Kolkata skipper Ritwik Roy Chowdhury (13) was unable to score any runs, while big hitter Sougata Dutta (16) was also dismissed before making a significant contribution with the bat.
In a high-scoring contest, wicketkeeper Subhankar and Geet Puri (19) tried to attain the mark with quickfire innings. Meanwhile, Sujit took two wickets, while Mukesh, Manik Sirohi, and Sourav Mondal each took one.
On the other hand, Suvankar hit three sixes and one boundary off Mukesh Kumar on the final four balls as Kolkata scored 23 off the last over, but it was too late for Ritwik’s men to respond.
Sudip and Ankut, who chose to bat first, smashed Kolkata bowlers all over the park to put together a massive 112-run partnership.
Sudip continued his excellent run in the final, striking a blistering 35-ball 62 that included four sixes and as many boundaries, his fourth half-century in the tournament. In just 9.2 overs, the duo helped Barrackpore cross the 100-run mark.
Later, when attempting to hit over deep extra cover, the Barrackpore captain was caught by Karan off Gani.
Ankur, a youngster who has been among the runs in the group matches, struck 61 in 42 balls, blasting two sixes and five boundaries.
Kolkata’s Koushik Maity took two wickets, including opener Ankur and Kaif Ahamed (11).
And the Player of the tournament was won by Sudip Chatterjee as well as the highest run-getters as he scored 478 runs. While highest wicket-taker was Sujit Kr Yadav (14 wickets).
