Odisha dominated with bat and ball and survived a scare at the end from Subodh Bhati to defeat Delhi by nine runs in a Group B Vijay Hazare Trophy clash at the Air Force Complex here. The match was reduced to 48 overs due to a wet outfield.
After having left the host nine down for 174 in its pursuit of 250, Odisha floundered against Bhati and Navdeep Saini, who took their team to the doorstep of victory. Bhati and Saini struck four fours and four sixes between them, before faltering in the final over. Needing 18 to win, the duo managed nine.
Till the 25th over, Delhi was well in the hunt, with opener Gautam Gambhir (44, 56b, 6x4) having dropped anchor and looking good for a big score. Rishabh Pant, batting at No. 5, threw caution to the wind and struck a few heavy blows, including three stylish sixes — two of the them on a trot off off-spinner Govinda Poddar. Gambhir’s dismissal at the other end didn’t seem to affect the rhythm of the wicketkeeper-batsman.
After Pant was dismissed against the run of play by Biplab Samantaray for a quickfire 39, the innings began to unravel. Left-arm spinner Pappu Roy foxed lower-order batsmen Lalit Yadav and Simarjeet Singh. The contest seemed effectively over, before Bhati closed the gap with his smart knock.
Earlier, Odisha’s middle order helped pace its team’s innings smartly to garner a fighting total. Sarangi’s early dismissal to fast bowler Simranjeet notwithstanding, Odisha’s top order made hay under the bright morning sun. Opener Rajesh Dhuper laid the foundation, leaving it to the middle order to consolidate.
Biplab Samantaray (63, 81b, 3x4, 1x6), the top scorer, milked the spinners in the middle of the innings alongside Poddar and Subhransu Senapati. They were in no hurry to gather quick runs, the plan being to protect wickets for the business end of the innings.
In the other Group ‘B’ contest, Saurashtra defeated Madhya Pradesh by seven wickets. Seamer Jaydev Unadkat and left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja starred for the victors, claiming seven wickets between them.
The scores:
At Palam-I: Madhya Pradesh 136 in 45.5 overs (Saransh Jain 32, Jaydev Unadkat four for 23, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja three for 33) lost to Saurashtra 137 for three in 40.3 overs (Arpit Vasavada 38 n.o., Cheteshwar Pujara 36 n.o.).
At Palam-II: Odisha 249 for four in 48 overs (Biplab Samantaray 63, Subhransu Senapati 59 n.o., Govinda Poddar 56) bt Delhi 240 in 48 overs (Gautam Gambhir 44, Subodh Bhati 42 n.o.) .
Scores
At Bengaluru (Elite Group A): Railways 180 in 48.2 overs (Mrunal Devdhar 64, Prashant Awasthi 25, Ashish Yadav 30, Manish Rao 28) lost to Mahrashtra 186 for three in 41.2 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 84, Jay Pande 38, Mandar Bhandari 29). Points:Maharashtra 4, Railways 0 .
Vidarbha 297 for seven in 50 overs (Faiz Fazal 91, Atharva Taide 148 n.o.) lost to Himachal Pradesh 298 for six in 47.5 overs (Priyanshu Khanduri 63, Ankush Bains 173 n.o.). HP 4, Vidarbha 0 .
Karnataka 237 in 50 overs (Mayank Agarwal 34, R. Samarth 102, Karun Nair 37, K. Gowtham 28, Atit Sheth four for 42) lost to Baroda 230 for three in 43.3 overs (Kedar Devdhar 123, Deepak Hooda 62 n.o.). Baroda won on VJD method. Baroda 4, Karnataka 0 .
At Delhi (Elite Group B): Madhya Pradesh 136 in 45.5 overs (Saransh Jain 32, Jaydev Unadkat four for 23, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja three for 33) lost to Saurashtra 137 for three in 40.3 overs (Robin Uthappa 25, Sheldon Jackson 36, Cheteshwar Pujara 36 n.o., Arpit Vasavada 38 n.o.). Saurashtra 4, MP 0 .
Odisha 249 for four in 48 overs (Rajesh Dhuper 46, Govinda Poddar 56, Biplab Samantray 63, Subhransu Senapati 59 n.o.) bt Delhi 240 in 48 overs (Gautam Gambhir 44, Rishabh Pant 39, Lalit Yadav 25, Subodh Bhati 42 n.o., Navdeep Saini 25). Odisha 4, Delhi 0 .
Chhattisgarh 248 for eight in 50 overs (Ashutosh Singh 110, Harpreet Singh Bhatia 26, Manoj Singh 62) lost to Andhra 249 for eight in 50 overs (Ashwin Hebbar 53, K.S. Bharat 30, Ricky Bhui 27, D.B. Ravi Teja 53, Karn Sharma 55). Andhra 4, Chhattisgarh 0 .
Plate: At Vadodara: Bihar 211 for nine in 50 overs (Anshuman Gautam 40, Keshav Kumar 33, Ashutosh Aman 33, Rohit Raj 29) bt Meghalaya 103 in 42.5 overs (Samar Quadri five for 22, Ashutosh Aman three for 15). Bihar 4, Meghalaya 0 .
At Nandiad: Manipur 125 in 37.4 overs (Yashpal Singh 76, Sunny Rana three for 27) lost to Uttarakhand 127 for one in 26.2 overs (Arya Sethi 50, Vineet Saxena 52). Uttarakhand 4, Manipur 0 .
At Anand: Mizoram 252 for six in 50 overs (Taruwar Kohli 113 n.o., Akhil Rajput 33, Sinan Khadir 36, Palzor three for 62) bt Sikkim 210 in 47.3 overs (Palzor 47, Lee Yong Lepcha 42, Mandup Bhutia 40, Sinan Khadir four for 35). Mizoram 4, Sikkim 0 .
