Cooch Behar Trophy: Varun, Dev Aditya star in Chhattisgarh's thrilling win over Goa

RAIPUR: Riding on the outstanding all-round performance by left-arm spin bowler Varun Singh Bhuie and right-arm medium pacer Dev Aditya Singh, hosts Chhattisgarh sealed a thrilling three wickets victory for Chhattisgarh in their last league match of the Cooch Behar Trophy against Goa at BSP Ground in Bhilai.

Varun, who emerged as the most economical bowler of the match with 1.50 economy rate in the first followed by 1.54 in the second innings, claimed nine scalps of Goa in the match and contributed 53 valuable runs with the bat in the first innings. Similarly, Dev contributed 99 runs with the bat, including 64 off 115 in the first innings, and claimed four scalps.

Winning the toss in the four-day match, the hosts chose to field first and restricted Goa to 147 with Varun claiming five wickets and Manraj Singh Dhillon taking three. Suryakant Tiwari and Dev took one wicket each.

Sanath Nevage remained the highest scorer for Goa as he hit 75 off 106. In reply, Chhattisgarh top order collapsed like a house of cards. Like previous marches, tail-enders came to the rescue of the team. Dev Aditya Singh (64 off 115) and Varun Singh Bhuie (53 off 74) guided Chhattisgarh to take a crucial 28 runs first innings lead.

Coming to bat in the second innings, Goa bettered their batting and put up 186 runs on board, setting a target of 159 for the hosts. Veer Yadav (47 off 71), Shoaib Shaikh (44 off 105) and Rijul Rahul Pathak (25 off 65) remain the heroes of the innings.

Needing 159 to win, Chhattisgarh lost their seven wickets. Rohit Netani (unbeaten 35) and Bharat Gondwani (unbeaten one) ensured their team reached home. Earlier, Dev Aditya contributed 25 crucial runs while opener Ashish Kumar Dahariya made 20 and Gaurav Mishra scored 36.