Odisha go down fighting to Rajasthan

After making a winning start, hosts Odisha suffered an upset as they went down fighting to Rajasthan by six wickets in a Group-B match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 Super League Tournament at DRIEMS Stadium in Tangi today. Ankit Lamba was the main architect of the Rajasthan win, hitting an unbeaten 67 (49b, 3x4, 5x6).
Chasing a challenging target of 163, Central Zone runners-up Rajasthan rode on an 87-run partnership for the third wicket between Lamba and Ashok Menaria to romp home with two balls to spare. Earlier, put into bat, East Zone league toppers Odisha piled up 162 for seven, thanks to a 44-ball 61 (7x4, 1x6) by Govind Podder and a cameo unbeaten 28 by Suryakant Pradha, who sent half of the eight balls he faced flying over the fence.
SCOREBOARD
ODISHA:
Anurag Sarangi c Chouhan b P Yadav 21, P Roshan Kumar Rao c P Singh b Chundawat 10, Govind Podder b P Singh 61, Biplab Samantray (run out) 4, Shesdeep Patra c Menaria b M Singh 13, Aravind Singh b M Singh 1, Abhilash Mallick b Chundawat 1, Deepak Behera (not out) 19, Suryakant Pradhan (not out) 28; Extras (lb-2, w-2) 4
Total (7 wkts; 20 overs) 162
Fall of wickets:
1-25, 2-42, 3-49, 4-98, 5-100, 6-101, 7-120
Bowling: Pankaj Singh 4-0-40-1, A Choudhary 3-0-37-0, Puneet Yadav 2-0-13-1, A Menaria 4-0-22-0,
C Chundawat 3-0-12-2, Manjeet Singh 4-0-36-2
RAJASTHAN: S Suwalka b Pradhan 5, A Lamba (not out) 67, S Chouhan c Rao b Patra 35, A Menaria c A Singh b D Behera 42, R Bishnoi c A Singh b D Behera 1, Puneet Yadav (not out) 9; Extras (lb-1, w-6) 7
Total (4 wkts; 19.4 overs) 166
Fall of wickets:
1-9, 2-68, 3-155, 4-157
Bowling: Deepak Behera 4-0-27-2, Suryakant Pradhan 2-0-19-1, Alok Mangaraj 2-0-17-0, Biplab Samantray 2.4-0-29-0, Jayant Behera 3-0-25-0, Shesdeep Patra 4-0-34-1, Govind Podder 2-0-14-0.

JASKARANVEER HITS UNBEATEN TON: Punjab opening batsman Jaskarnveer Singh smashed an unbeaten century to power his team to a thrilling five-run win over Mumbai in their rain-curtailed Group-B match later in the day at DRIEMS Stadium.
The 21-year-old`s unbeaten 114 (69b, 12x4, 5x6), his maiden T20 ton, helped Punjab muster a healthy total of 173 for six after they elected to bat. In association with Manan Vohra, Jaskarnveer gave Punjab a sound start, putting on 59 runs for the opening wicket. Though wickets fell in regular intervals thereafter, he not only stood like a wall at one end but also played an array of sizzling shots to all parts of the ground.
Chasing a daunting target, Mumbai were 16 for one in two overs when rain stopped play. The situation became more difficult for them as they were set with a revised target of 82 in eight overs by VJD method. Compounding their plight, the first two wickets fell with only 18 runs on the board. Though Jay Bista kept Mumbai`s victory bid alive with a 23-ball 47, his dismissal in the final over saw them getting restricted to 76 for three.
This was the second straight defeat for Mumbai, who had lost their opening game to host Odisha yesterday. On the other hand, Punjab moved up to the top of the Group-B table with back-to-back wins.
Brief score: Punjab 173/6 in 20 overs (Jaskaranveer Singh 114 n.o, Manan Vohra 21; Abhishek Raut 3/22) beat Mumbai 76/3 in 8 overs (Jay Bista 47) by 5 runs via VJD method.

SECOND WIN FOR GUJARAT:
Displaying clinical performance in all departments of the game, Gujarat crushed Himachal Pradesh by six wickets in their Group-A match here at KIIT Cricket Ground and lead the table with back-to-back wins today.
The highlight of the match was a four-wicket haul by Gujarat medium-pacer Rohit Dahiya. Batting first, Himachal rode on Prashant Chopra`s 28-ball 40 to make a modest total of 124. Jasprit Bumrah was another successful bowler for Gujarat, picking up three wickets. In reply, Gujarat romped overhauled the target comfortably with all six of their batsmen making decent contributions.
Brief score: Himachal Pradesh 124 in 19.3 overs (Prashant Chopra 40, Ankush Bains 31; Rohit Dahiya 4/31, Jasprit Bumrah 3/21, Rush Kalaria 2/17) lost to Gujarat 128/4 in 18.1 overs (Priyank Panchal 35, Smit Patel 29, Jesal Karia 20 n.o; Akshay Chauhan 2/27) by 6 wkts.

KAUSHAL SHOW IN VAIN:
Fine all-round performance by Kaushal Singh went in vain as Jharkhand suffered their second straight defeat, losing to Central Zone league toppers Madhya Pradesh by nine runs in another Group-A match at KIIT Ground earlier in the day.
Kaushal, the 18-year-old Ranchi lad, took two wickets in MP`s competitive total of 153 for six and then hit an unbeaten 50 (28b, 5x4, 3x6). But his maiden T20 half-century did not prove enough for Jharkhand, who could make 144 for seven in the stipulated overs.
Brief score: Madhya Pradesh 153/6 in 20 overs (Harpreet Singh 31, Zafar Ali 29, Udit Birla 28, Jalaj Saxena 24; Kaushal Singh 2/26, Vikash Kumar 2/27, Prakash Seet 2/41) beat Jharkhand 144/7 in 20 overs (Kaushal Singh 50 n.o; Harpreet Singh 2/22, Anurag Singh 2/32) by 9 runs.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PHOTO: Action from the Group-B match between Rajasthan and Odisha at DRIEMS Stadium on April 2, 2015.

Comments