Odisha forced host Uttar Pradesh to a honourable draw on the fourth day of their four-day Ranji Trophy Elite Group-A match at Green Park Stadium in Kanpur today. Uttar Pradesh gained three points by virtue of taking a first-innings lead of 166 runs, while Odisha secured one point.
Electing to bat, Odisha made a competitive total of 243, which featured one half-century each by Sandeep Pattnaik, Govinda Poddar and debutant Sambit Baral, and an attacking 48 by Rajesh Mohanty. In reply, Uttar Pradesh rode on a century each by captain Karan Sharma and Aaradhya Yadav, and half-century by Madhav Kaushik to declare their first innings at 409 for six.
The home team seemed more interested in taking the first-innings lead than trying for an outright win as they batted on all four days for a 400-plus total. But their hope to dismiss Odisha for the second time and win the match was manfully foiled by the visitors, who batted well to make 151 for three in the second innings before the match ended in a draw. Odisha opening batter Swastik Samal scored an unbeaten half-century in the second innings.
The drawn match fetched Odisha their first point of the current Ranji season after a seven-wicket defeat they suffered in their opening match against Baroda, held at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack from October 15 to 18.
The inclusion of Sambit Baral in the Odisha team proved to be a wise decision as the debutant allrounder, who replaced opening batter Gourav Choudhury, also shone with the ball, picking up three wickets for 52 runs. Odisha will next meet Andhra at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack from November 1 to 4.
SCORECARD
ODISHA (1st innings): Swastik Samal c Juyal b Mavi 4, Aashirwad Swain (wk) c Juyal b Mavi 4, Sandeep Pattnaik c K Sharma b S Sharma 53, Subhranshu Senapati (c) b Tyagi 3, Govinda Poddar lbw S Sharma 64, Rajesh Dhuper c Nigam b S Sharma 0, Sambit Baral not out 59, Rajesh Mohanty c K Sharma b Veer 48, Sunil Roul lbw Nigam 2, Badal Biswal lbw Nigam 0, Sumit Sharma b Veer 1; Extras (lb-2, nb-2, w-1) 5
Total (All out; 77.1 overs) 243
Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Samal, 0.4 overs), 2-20 (Swain, 6.5), 3-36 (Senapati, 14.6), 4-128 (Pattnaik, 45.2), 5-128 (Dhuper, 47.2), 6-131 (Poddar, 51.2), 7-225 (Mohanty, 71.4), 8-242 (Roul, 76.4), 9-242 (Biswal, 76.5), 10-243 (Sharma, 77.1)
Bowling: Shivam Mavi 13-1 -46-2, Kunal Tyagi 11-2-29-1, Shivam Sharma 21-3-65-3, Vipraj Nigam 12-1-39-2, Karan Sharma 17-2-61-0, Prashant Veer 3.1-2-1-2.
UTTAR PRADESH (1st innings): Abhishek Goswami b Baral 24, Madhav Kaushik lbw Baral 67, Aryan Juyal (wk) b Baral 0, Karan Sharma (c) st Swain b Biswal 121, Aaradhya Yadav retired hurt 101, Priyam Garg st Dhuper b Sharma 31, Prashant Veer run out (Pattnaik) 6, Vipraj Nigam not out 31, Shivam Mavi not out 12; Extras (b-4, lb-9, nb-3) 16
Total (6 wickets declared, 130 overs) 409
Did not bat: Shivam Sharma, Kunal Tyagi
Fall of wickets: 1-45 (Goswami, 13.6 overs), 2-45 (Juyal, 15.4), 3-116 (Kaushik, 39.5), 3-314 (A Yadav, retired), 4-341 (K Sharma, 110.5), 5-365 (Veer, 121.6), 6-380 (Garg, 127.6)
Bowling: Rajesh Mohanty 19-5-56-0, Badal Biswal 40-10-91-1, Sunil Roul 14-1-52-0, Govinda Poddar 13-1-38-0, Sambit Baral 20-3-52-3, Sumit Sharma 21-4-95-1, Swastik Samal 3-1-12-0.
ODISHA (2nd innings): S Samal not out 71, A Swain (wk) c Kaushik b Mavi 23, S Pattnaik c Veer b Mavi 5, S Senapati (c) lbw Tyagi 11, Govinda Poddar not out 38; Extras (b-1, lb-1, w-1) 3
Total (3 wickets, 44 overs) 151
Did not bat: Rajesh Dhuper, Sambit Baral, Rajesh Mohanty, Sunil Roul, Badal Biswal, Sumit Sharma
Fall of wickets: 1-43 ( Swain, 7.5 overs), 2-55 (Pattnaik, 11.2), 3-79 (Senapati, 23.1)
Bowling: K Tyagi 10-0-45-1, S Sharma 10-1-22-0, S Mavi 9-1-32-2, P Veer 2-0-12-0, V Nigam 7-1-22-0, K Sharma 6-0-16-0.
Player of the Match: Karan Sharma (UP).
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PHOTO: Odisha allrounder Sambit Baral poses after making a successful first-class debut in their Ranji Trophy match against Uttar Pradesh in Kanpur on 25 October 2025.