A magnificent start ended in heart-break as Odisha crashed out from the league stage of the Vijay Hazare Trophy National One-Day Cricket Tournament, losing to Himachal Pradesh by 63 runs in their fifth and last Elite Group-A match at Cricket Club of India Ground, Mumbai today.
This was the second successive defeat after a hat-trick of wins for Odisha, who finished fourth in their group with 12 points. In fact, four teams tied for the top spot with 12 points each. But by virtue of superior net run-rate (NNR), Himachal and Vidarbha secured the top two sports, while Andhra Pradesh and Odisha finished third and fourth respectively.
Opting to bat after captain Rishi Dhawan won the toss, Himachal compiled an imposing total of 360 for five with four batsmen hitting a half-century each. Skipper Dhawan was the top scorer with an unbeaten 91. Among Odisha bowlers, debutant Bikash Rout and Jayanta Behera picked up two wickets each.
In reply, Odisha made a gallant attempt to overhaul the target with openers Sandeep Pattanaik (61) and Anurag Sarangi (66) compiling 101 runs for the opening wicket. At one stage, Odisha were 281 for four. But despite a valiant 82 by captain Subhranshu Senapati, Odisha were bowled out for 297. Left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar did maximum damage to the Odisha innings, bagging six wickets for 59 runs.
SCORECARD
HIMACHAL PRADESH: S Arora (W) c Poddar b Rout 69, P Chopra c Poddar b Rout 64, N Gangta st Lenka b Behera 81, A Kumar b Behera 6, R Dhawan (C) not out 91, S Verma ct Rout b Roul 21, A Vashisht not out 13; Extras (nb-1, w-11, lb-3) 15
Total (5 wickets; 50 overs) 360
Did not bat: Arpit Guleria, M Dagar, A Jamwal, V Galetiya
Fall of wickets: 1-140 (Arora, 25.4 ov), 2-145 (Chopra, 27.2 ov), 3-154 (Kumar, 28.6 ov), 4-265 (Gangta, 42.6 ov), 5-334 (Verma, 48.2 ov)
Bowling: Debabrata Pradhan 10-0-83-0, Sunil Kumar Roul 10-0-96-1, Govinda Poddar 7-0-41-0, Bikash Rout 7-0-51-2, Jayanta Behera 10-0-46-2, Abhishek Raut 6-0-40-0.
ODISHA: Sandeep Pattanaik c Dhawan b Vashisht 61, Anurag Sarangi st Arora b Dagar 66, Subhransu Senapati (C) c Dagar b Dhawan 82, Govinda Poddar lbw Dagar 11, Sujit Lenka (W) lbw Dhawan 23, Rajesh Dhuper st Arora b Dagar 34, Abhishek Raut c Verma b Dagar 7, Debabrata Pradhan b Dhawan 1, Bikash Rout c Jamwal b Dagar 2, Sunil Kumar Roul b Dagar 0, Jayanta Behera not out 0; Extras (w-8, lb-2) 10
Total (All out; 45.1 overs) 297
Fall of wickets: 1-101 (Sarangi, 13.5 ov), 2-159 (Pattanaik, 24.4 ov), 3-186 (Poddar, 29.5 ov), 4-218 (Lenka, 34.6 ov), 5-281 (Dhuper, 42.1 ov), 6-289 (Raut, 42.5 ov), 7-290 (Pradhan, 43.2 ov), 8-297 (Rout, 44.4 ov), 9-297 (Roul, 44.5 ov), 10-297 (Senapati, 45.1 ov)
Bowling: V Galetiya 3-0-20-0, Arpit Guleria 7-0-54-0, R Dhawan 6.1-0-51-3, S Verma 4-0-27-0, M Dagar 10-0-59-6, A Jamwal 9-0-57-0, A Vashisht 6-0-27-1.
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PHOTO: Undated file photo of Himachal bowler Mayank Dagar.