Put into bat, the hosts relied on cameo knocks by Saba Karim (92), Utpal Chatterjee (68), Ajay Das (51) and Rohan Gavaskar (51) to pile up an imposing 341 all out in their allotted 50 overs.

In reply, Tripura were bundled out for a paltry 128 in 43.1 overs with only Mayur Kaderkar standing bravely amidst the ruins with a fighting 33.The experienced Saba Karim seemed to be in a punishing mood as he struck eight boundaries and three sixes during his rollicking effort of 92 which came off just 96 balls. Captain Utpal Chatterjee's 68 came off 48 balls and contained seven boundaries and a six.

Brief scores:

Bengal 341 in 50 overs (S Karim 92, U Chatterjee 68, A Das 51, R Gavaskar 51, G Banik 3-55, T Chanda 3-65).

Tripura 128 in 43.1 overs (M Kaderkar 33, U Chaterjee 2-15).

Bihar through

JAMSHEDPUR: Bihar opened their new year'saccount with a winning note, defeating Orissa by seven wickets in the East Zone One-day match.Bihar put Orissa and Orissa were all out for 197 in 44.2 overs. Young off-spinner Satish Singh claimed six wickets for 40 runs.

In reply, Bihar reached the target scoring 198 for seven in 48.5 overs. Opener Nikhilesh Ranjan made 73 to guide his team to victory.

Earlier, all rounder Robin Morris with 52 gave some respectability to Orissa score adding a valuable 53 runs with Prabhanjan Mallik (24) in the second wicket partnership.

Brief scores

Orissa 197 (Robin Morris 52, Satish Singh 40-6) bt Bihar 198-7 ( Nikhilesh Ranjan 73, Shahid Khan 28-3)

Result: Bihar won by three wickets.