Ranji Trophy: Odisha Beat J&K By Eight Wickets

Jammu: Odisha defeated Jammu & Kashmir by eight wickets on the fourth and final day in round-VIII of the Elite Group-C match at the Govt Gandhi Memorial Science College ground here on Tuesday.

After bundling out the hosts 127 in their first innings, Odisha had taken 176-run first innings lead as they had piled up 323 runs in their first innings with a fine century by Abhishek Raut (116) and half centuries by Anurag Sarangi (57) and Debashis Samantray (85).

However, the hosts put up a fine performance in their second innings and took the score to 272 for seven at stumps on the third day yesterday with Parvez Rasool and Aamir Aziz not out at 125 and seven respectively.

The duo trying their best for a draw, took the score to 357 on the fourth and final day. However, with the fall of Rasool with his career-best knock of 158, the remaining three batsmen could not hang on as the team folded at 391. Apart from Rasool, Qamran Iqbal (67) and Aamir Aziz (56) also had a handful contribution.

Chasing the winning target of 195, Odisha began their second innings confidently and reached the target in 49.1 overs with Subhransu Senapati and Govinda Poddar remaining not out at 72 and 20 respectively.

With this victory, Odisha bagged six points while J&K drew a blank. For Odisha, Abhishek Raut adjudged the Man of the Match for his fine century in the first innings.

This was the third win for Odisha in the Ranji Trophy match this year. Out of seven matches, Odisha has lost the game to Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, won against Tripura, Assam and J&K and drawn the match against Haryana. The state team is now in the fifth place in Group C with 19 points from seven matches.