Lucknow: Having started their campaign in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with three defeats in a row, Odisha have now notched up a hat-trick of victories following their 73-run hammering of Assam on Saturday evening.
Despite their third win in six games, Odisha find themselves at fifth place in Elite Group A with 12 points. Mighty Mumbai are their final opponents in the group, and even if Odisha can script an upset, they won’t be able to finish in the top two and advance to the Super League stage.
The top four batters of Odisha each got a start but fell without making substantial contributions. At 75/4 in the 12th over, Odisha needed a partnership of substance. They got just that, and in quick time too, as skipper Biplab Samantray (42* off 32 balls, 3×4, 2×6) and Aashirwad Swain (51* off 28 balls, 3×4, 3×6) lifted Odisha to 171/4.
Samantray and Swain’s undefeated 96-run collaboration took just 50 balls.
Assam failed to get off to a good start, and lost wickets at regular intervals. All six Odisha bowlers got among the wickets, with skipper Samantray (3/2) finishing off the Odisha innings with three wickets in his only over.
Badal Biswal bagged a couple of wickets, while Prayash Singh dismissed Assam captain and their best batter Riyan Parag for 14.
BRIEF SCORES
Odisha 171/4 in 20 overs (Aashirwad Swain 51*, Biplab Samantray 43; Abdul Kuraishi 2/27).
Assam 98 in 16 overs (Sumit Ghadigaonkar 43; Biplab Samantray 3/2, Badal Biswal 2/28).
Result: Odisha bt Assam by 73 runs.
Player of the Match: Aashirwad Swain
Group A standings: Odisha 5th (12 points from 6 games), Assam 7th (8 pts from 6).
Next match: Odisha vs Mumbai on Dec 8, 4.30 pm (Lucknow).
