Mumbai: Odisha fell short against Himachal Pradesh despite a gallant batting effort, spearheaded by captain Subhranshu Senapati, to bow out of the Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Tuesday.
Chasing an imposing target of 361 in 50 overs, Odisha scored 297 in 45.1 overs to lose the Elite Group A match by 63 runs.
Four teams, including Odisha, finished with 12 points in the six-team group. But with only two teams to advance to the knockout stage, net run-rate (NRR) had to be applied to break the four-way tie.
Odisha lost out as their NRR (-0.200) was the worst. While Himachal topped Elite Group A with the best NRR (+0.551) to qualify directly for the quarterfinals, Vidarbha – who beat Jammu & Kashmir by 5 wickets today — finished second (NRR +0.210) to earn a berth in the pre-quarterfinal. Andhra Pradesh overcame Gujarat to reach 12 points, but couldn’t push their NRR above that of Vidarbha.
Odisha skipper Subhranshu lost the toss at CCI and Himachal made the most of their opportunity on a placid track. Except for Jayant Behera, who bagged 2/46 in 10 overs, all other Odisha bowlers suffered.
Himachal openers S Arora (69) and P Chopra (64) set the tone with a 140-run stand. N Gangta (81) kept up the tempo, but it was skipper Rishi Dhawan’s 91 not out off just 58 balls which helped Himachal post a massive total.
Odisha began on a rousing note, with Sandeep Pattanaik (61) and Anurag Sarangi (66) adding 101 for the opening wicket. Subhranshu maintained the momentum with a fine 82. But with the asking rate climbing towards the 10-run mark, the captain didn’t get support from the lower middle order and tailenders.
A promising campaign, which had started with three successive wins, thus ended on a disappointing note with two back-to-back defeats.
Scores: Himachal Pradesh 360/5 in 50 overs. Odisha 297 in 45.1 overs.
Result: Himachal won by 63 runs.
