Nagpur, Jan 3: Wriddhiman Saha's brutal innings and Mohammed Shami's fiery spell ensured an easy 61-run win for Bengal against Hyderabad in their opening group A league match in the National T20 Championship for Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

Batting first, Bengal scored a healthy 185 for 4 in 20 overs courtesy Wriddhiman's 47-ball-81. In reply, Hyderabad were all out for 124 in 16.2 overs with Shami being the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/18 in 2.2 overs.

He got good assistance from the seasoned Pragyan Ojha (3/23 in 4 overs). Bengal got four points by virtue of this win.

Opening the innings, India's Test wicketkeeper Wriddhiman hit seven boundaries and five huge sixes as he added 138 in 14.2 overs with Sayan Sekhar Mondal (50).

Wriddhiman, who has earlier opened for Bengal and Kings XI Punjab in the shortest format, punished former India U-19 left-armer Chama Milind, hitting him over the ropes on a number of occasion.

Mondal, who is back to opening for Bengal like his days in age-group cricket, played the perfect second fiddle scoring his runs in 41 balls with four boundaries and a six.

He also got two wickets for 35 runs with his handy medium pace showing signs of being the ideal replacement of now retired Laxmi Ratan Shukla.

Skipper Manoj Tiwary also chipped in with a quickfire 29 off 21 balls with three fours and a six. In reply, Shami bowling the second over of the innings dismissed Tanmay Agarwal (0) and skipper G Hanuma Vihari (14) to set the ball rolling.

In fact, Shami was hit for two boundaries and six by Viharu but the Bengal bowler had the last laugh when he tried a big shot only to be caught by Mondal.

Shami later came on to take the last wicket as he got some vital match practice before embarking on his international comeback in Australia.

Hyderabad were never in the match after that as wickets kept tumbling at the other end. Ojha and Aamir Gani (1/30 in 4 overs) kept things tight.

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Brief Scores:

Bengal: 185/4 in 20 overs (Wriddhiman Saha 81, Sayan Sekhar Mondal 50, Chama Milind 2/45)

Hyderabad: 124 in 16.2 overs (Akshath Reddy 32, Mohammed Shami 3/18, Pragyan Ojha 3/23, Sayan Sekhar Mondal 2/35). Bengal won by 61 runs.

PTI