Host Orissa gained three points by virtue of taking first innings lead against Jharkhand in their three-day East Zone Vijay Merchant Trophy (u-16) cricket match, which ended in a draw at Nimpur ground in Cuttack today.

In reply to Orissa`s first innings total of 318, the visitors folded up for 309 after resuming at the overnight score of 241 for five. After taking a nine-run lead, the home side played for academic interest, making 148 for eight in the second innings.

With this match, Orissa ended their campaign in the zonal league, finishing third with eight points from four games. They also drew their earlier three matches against Tripura, Bengal and Assam. Jharkhand (13 points) and Bengal (11 points) qualified the for knock-out round, emerging as the East Zone champions and runners-up respectively. Tripura (5 points) and Assam (4 points) finished fourth and last in the five-team zonal league table.

BRIEF SCORES:

Orissa (1st innings): 318/10 in 113.4 overs (Gourav Mahapatra 79, Girija Barik 67 n.o, Ranjit Singh 57, Mohammad Hasim 45; Monu Kumar 5/86, Ronit Singh 2/80).

Jharkhand (1st innings): 309/10 in 91.2 overs (R Raj 85, K Singh 71, Wilfred Beng 48, Virat Singh 40; Gourav Mahapatra 3/64, Ashok Barik 3/67, Bhabatosh Paramanika 2/53).

Orissa (2nd innings): 148/8 in 45 overs (Ashok Barik 41, Girija Barik 28 n.o, D Pattanayak 26, S Samal 26; Monu Kumar 3/43, Ronit Singh 2/42).