Ganguly knock in vain, TN beat Bengal to win Hazare Trophy

Opting to bat first, Dinesh Karthik-led Tamil Nadu rattled up 379 for six with Murali Vijay hitting a sterling 102-ball 103 and Karthik (88), Abhinav Mukund (75) and Srikkanth Anirudha (56), son of chief selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth, shining with the bat.
Chasing a stiff target, Bengal made a spirited chase before halting at 350 for eight with Ganguly (74 off 66 balls), Srivats Goswami (81 off 84 balls) and Anustup Majumdar (66 off 44 balls) scoring bulk of their runs at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera.

C Ganapathy (3/63) and V Yo Mahesh (3/79) shared six Bengal wickets between them.
"This win means a lot to us," Tamil Nadu skipper Dinesh Karthik later said.

"The batsmen have done well and the bowlers also bowled well under pressure. I think Bengal were in the game when Ganguly and Goswami were going well. Sathish took a good catch to send Ganguly back and that turned the match in our favour," Karthik added.
Tamil Nadu got off to a strong start with openers Anirudh and Murali Vijay adding 85 runs before Anirudh departed in the 16th over.

There was no respite for the Bengal bowlers and Vijay added 120 runs with Mukund to lay a strong foundation and Karthik capitalised on it, hitting a 47-ball 88 that had 11 fours and three sixes in it.

Vijay's knock was studded with seven fours and three sixes.
Bengal began well but lost opener Arindam Das (11) early, Ganguly joined Goswami in the middle and the duo toyed with the Tamil Nadu attack, scoring almost at will as they raised 120 runs from 19.5 overs when S Badrinath earned the breakthrough by removing the former India captain.

Ganguly's 66-ball 74 had seven fours and three sixes in it.
Goswami's 84-ball knock, which had 10 fours and two sixes in it, also came to an end soon as Bengal strayed from the chase.
Down the order, Anustup Majumdar played a 44-ball whirlwind knock of 66 -- with the help of six fours and three sixes -- when Ganapathy cut short his stay and virtually seal the match.