Bhubaneswar: Odisha put an end to its disappointing run in the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy campaign with a commanding 299-run victory over Nagaland, the minnows of eight-team Elite Group A, on the final day of their fixture at the KIIT Cricket Ground on Wednesday.
Odisha scored 275 runs in the first innings and declared the second at 350/5. Nagaland, which scored 161 runs in the first innings, lost all wickets with the scoreboard reading 165 in 85 overs on the concluding day of the match.
Having lost their first three matches and conceded the first-innings lead in a drawn fourth, Odisha pocketed six crucial points from the win and climbed to sixth place in the gr
oup with seven points from five games.
The determination for a pride-salvaging victory was evident in young opener Swastik Samal and skipper Subhranshu Senapati, who struck 169 and 137 respectively after Odisha were at an uncomfortable 16/2 when play got underway on Tuesday. The duo added 261 runs for the third wicket, scoring at five runs an over, before the declaration came. It was the ninth hundred in first-class cricket for Subhranshu and the second for Swastik.
The first innings also saw a similar performance by Anil Parida and veteran all-rounder Biplab Samantray, who came to the rescue of the team with a 179-run partnership after Odisha were four wickets down at 34. While Parida scored 118, Samantray missed his hundred by just eight runs, contributing to the victory built on strong batting performance.
Govinda Poddar emerged as the most successful Odisha bowler, claiming 5 wickets in Nagaland’s second innings to finish with match figures of 8 wickets.
Odisha will next play Tamil Nadu at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack from January 22 to 25, 2026.