Anand, Sep 28 (PTI) Back from a cricket exile of 18 years, Bihar continued their surge with a five-wicket victory over Arunachal Pradesh in the Vijay Hazare Trophy plate group match here Friday.

Keshav Kumar returned with brilliant figures of 5/23 and was brilliantly backed by Ashutosh Aman (3/15) as Arunchal Pradesh folded for 145 in 45.3 overs after Bihar opted to field. It was the fourth straight win a row for Bihar.

Opener Babul Kumar (57 from 36 balls; 11x4, 1x6) gave Bihar a flying start before Rohit Raj (14 not out) and Aman (18 not out) steered them home with 144 balls to spare.

Bihar now have 18 points from five matches with four wins, while one match was abandoned.

At the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara, Abhishek Nayar and Paras Dogra combined well to enable Puducherry register a thrilling two-wicket win over Nagaland.

Put in, Nagaland folded for 202 in 45.3 overs with Nayar returning with 4/40.

Skipper Rongsen Jonathan (89) and KB Pawan (46) did the bulk of the scoring for Nagaland in a 101-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

But Puducherry bowlers kept striking at regular intervals as Nagaland could not bat till full 50 overs.

In reply, Puducherry had a jittery start with 40/2 in 6.3 overs but Paras Dogra remained solid in his 122-ball 98 not out to steer them home with 29 balls to spare.

Brief scores:

At Anand: Manipur 279/4; 50 overs (Yashpal Singh 102, Chingangbam Singh 75, Prafullomoni Singh 47) beat Mizoram 69; 29.3 overs (Rex Singh 5/17, Kabrambam Meitei 3/32, Bishworjit Konthoujam 2/13) by 210 runs.

At Nadiad: Arunchal Pradesh 145; 45.3 overs (Samarth Seth 43, A Sahani 44; Keshav Kumar 5/23) lost to Bihar 150/5; 26 overs (Babul Kumar 57) by five wickets.

At Vadodara: Nagaland 202; 45.3 overs (Rongsen Jonathan 89, KB Pawan 46; Abhishek Nayar 4/40) lost to Puducherry 203/8; 45.1 overs (Paras Dogra 98 not out) by two wickets. PTI TAP

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