Mumbai: Odisha made life difficult for Services batsmen before eventually losing their Syed Mushtaq Ali (T20) Trophy match by 3 wickets with one ball left.
Asked to bat first, Odisha lost the wicket of Sandeep Pattanaik in the first over itself. The innings never got the desired momentum as the batsmen struggled to push the run-rate above to 6 runs an over.
Opener Swastik Samal top-scored with 39 off 36 balls, while wicketkeeper-batsman Rajesh Dhuper (28 off 16) hit some big shots – 2 sixes and a four — in the death overs. But all that Odisha could manage was a modest 142/8 in their quote of 20 overs.
Services got off to a flying start, reaching 50 in the fifth over and 100 in the 13th. Medium-pacer Debabrata Pradhan gave Odisha a whiff of an upset by taking 3 wickets as Services slipped to 132/7 in the 19th over.
However, Nakul Sharma and Pulkit Narang held their nerves to guide Services over the line.
It was Odisha’s second defeat in four matches. They have to win their remaining three games to have any chances of making the knockout round.
Brief scores: Odisha 142/8 in 20 overs (Swastik Samal 39; Arjun Sharma 2/13, Varun Choudhary 2/30). Services 146/7 in 19.5 overs (Vineet Dhankhar 32, Mohit Ahlawat 30; Debabrata Pradhan 3/14).
Result: Odisha lose by 3 wickets.
Odisha’s next match: Vs Bihar (Oct 23).
