BHUBANESWAR 22-Dec-2011 147
Odisha won the East Zone Vijay Merchant Trophy (U-16) League title, trouncing Tripura by an innings and 18 runs on the third and last day of their last league match at Bidanasi ground in Cuttack today. Leg-spinner Raj Kishan Patel emerged as the star of the title triumph, bagging 13 wickets for 94 runs against Tripura and a total of 22 wickets from three matches in the tournament.
Odisha secured six points from the last match and topped the zonal league table with 13 points from four matches. They earlier beat Assam by seven wickets and held Bengal as well as Jharkhand to draws. Jahrkhand finished runners-up with 12 points, while Bengal occupied the third place with 10 points.
After winning the zonal title, Odisha qualified to play the All-India knock-out match against Uttar Pradesh at Nagpur from December 31 to January 2. Congratulating the team for the title triumph, Odisha Cricket Association secretary Asirbad Behera announced a cash prize of Rs 10,000 each for the playing XI and support staff of the and Rs 5,000 each for all the reserve players.
Coach Subrat Behera lauded the brilliant performance of Jharsuguda tweaker Patel and wished him success at the higher level. He also appreciated batting the performance of captain Prateek Tripathy, Sanoj Mahananda, Gourav Mohapatra, Avinab Ghosh and Debapriya Patnaik.
BRIEF SCORE:
Tripura 180/10 in 54 overs (R Paul 72, K Das 40; Raj Kishan Patel 5/40, Suman Mohanty 3/35) and 202/10 in 71.2 overs (K Das 64, R Debbarma 52; Raj Kishan Patel 8/54, Debapriya Patnaik 1/23, Suman Mohanty 1/48) lost to Odisha 400/9 decl in 109 overs (Gourav Mohapatra 93 n.o, Avinab Ghosh 86, Debapriya Patnaik 83, Prateek Tripathy 59, Suman Mohanty 25; Viki Saha 4/113, C Paul 3/115).
