Bengal registered back-to-back wins in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, beating Karnataka by four wickets at the St Xavier’s College ground in Thumba, Thiruvananthapuram, on Tuesday after having thrashed Mumbai in their previous game. Yet, they bowed out of the tournament, as Karnataka, by virtue of a superior net run rate, finished second in Group B and made the pre-quarter finals.

Bengal would still like to focus on the positives.

Spinner Pradipta Pramanik shone, taking four wickets and restricting Karnataka to 252/8. With the bat, captain Sudip Chatterjee (63) regained form, opener Abhishek Das (58) gave another brisk start and Ritwik Roy Chowdhury (49), Bengal’s find of the season, contributed with crucial runs.

Brief scores: Karnataka 252/8 in 50 ovs (M. Pandey 90; P. Pramanik 4/48). Bengal 253/6 in 48.3 ovs (S. Chatterjee 63, A. Das 56). Bengal won by 4 wickets.