A day after being walloped by Mumbai, there was some relief for Bengal as they took only 27.4 overs to brush aside Mizoram by nine wickets and open their account in the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Sunday.

At the JSCA Oval ground in Ranchi, Bengal’s bowlers, led by left-arm spinner Pradipta Pramanik (4/2), had a field day as they bundled Mizoram out for 57 in 21.2 overs.

Thereafter, Ritwik Roy Chowdhury (26 not out), promoted as an opener, scored at a strike rate of 173.33 while No.3 Agniv Pan smashed 25 not out off 14 balls as Bengal knocked over the required runs in just 6.2 overs.

After an eight-wicket hammering from Mumbai on Saturday in their tournament opener, an emphatic win of this kind was pretty much required for Bengal.

But they do need to register more such wins if they are to keep alive their prospects of making the knockout stage.

Bengal are third in Group E with four points from two matches.

Apart from Pramanik, who picked up his four wickets bowling just 2.2 overs, quicks Mukesh Kumar (2/11) and Geet Puri (3/15) also contributed with their early inroads.

Brief scores: Mizoram 57 in 21.2 overs (P. Pramanik 4/2, G. Puri 3/15). Bengal 59/1 in 6.2 overs (R. Roy Chowdhury 26 n.o.). Bengal won by 9 wickets.

Nod for women

Dubai: The ICC on Sunday said the Afghanistan government supports the world body’s constitution and has “in principle” agreed to resuming women’s cricket in the country.

The Board received an update from the Afghanistan Working Group detailing a recent meeting with a representative of the Afghanistan government and the Afghanistan Cricket Board.

“The government representative was clear in his support for the ICC constitution including in principle for women’s cricket in Afghanistan,” Working Group Chair Imran Khwaja said.

PTI