Dhoni wins hearts but Bengal win Hazare semis

NEW DELHI : Mahendra Singh Dhoni enthralled with some breathtaking sixes but a young Bengal side put up a spirited display to beat Jharkhand by 41 runs and enter the Vijay Hazare final here on Saturday.

They will meet Tamil Nadu in the final.

Bengal had lost to Dinesh Karthik and Co in the two successive finals in 2008-09 and 2009-10.

Riding on twin hundreds by Abhimanyu Easwaran (101) and Shreevats Goswami (101) and a blistering 75 from skipper Manoj Tiwary, Bengal scored an imposing 329 for four in 50 overs.

But one of the greatest finishers of the game, Dhoni took the battle back to the enemy camp, hitting 70 off 62 balls, before they were bundled out for 288 in 50 overs.

The four sixes were vintage Dhoni and the 2000-odd spectators who had come to watch him in action were not disappointed. They were ecstatic when Ashoke Dinda dropped a sitter at long-off that trickled down to the boundary. The hapless offspinner Amir Gani watched in disbelief as Dhoni then hit him for two sixes over long-on -- the second one went 100 metres.

He found an able ally in Ishank Jaggi (59 off 43 balls) who also played his shots at will, even as Bengal’s ground fielding was exceptional.

Ojha (5/71) has lost some zip after a remodelled action and kept on bowling short and was repeatedly punished by Dhoni and Jaggi.

However Ojha bowled the most important delivery of his entire stint with Bengal as he got one to turn away from Dhoni clipping off bail. The match was won and lost with that single delivery from Ojha.

Brief scores: Bengal 329/4 in 50 overs (S Goswami 101, A Easwaran 101, M Tiwary 75; V Aaron 2/89) vs Jharkhand 288 in 50 overs (MS Dhoni 70, I Jaggi 59, S Tiwary 48; P Ojha 5/71)