Bhubaneswar: Odisha duly completed a big win in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match against Meghalaya in Shillong on Sunday.
The innings-and-56-run victory took Odisha to fourth place in the group, with 17 points from six matches. But it wasn’t enough for them to qualify for the quarterfinals.
Jammu & Kashmir (29 points) and Baroda (27) occupy the top two spots in the group currently, and even if Odisha beat Services handsomely in their last game to pocket the maximum 7 points, they can at best finish third.
The top two from each of the four Elite groups will advance to the knockout rounds.
Meghalaya, who started the final day on 221/6, needed 129 more runs to make Odisha bat a second time. But once Jaskirat Sachdeva was castled by Sunil Roul for 82, Meghalaya folded up for 294 in their second innings.
Off-spinner Govinda Poddar bagged two wickets and first-innings destroyer Tapas Das claimed one. Medium-pacer Tapas, who made his Ranji debut, was adjudged Player of the Match for his match haul of 7/124.
Brief Scores
Meghalaya 1st innings: 198
Odisha 1st innings: 548/7 declared
Meghalaya 2nd innings: 294 (Jaskirat Sachdeva 82, Sumit Kumar 51; Sunil Roul 4/61, Rajesh Mohanty 3/49, Govinda Poddar 2/54, Tapas Das 1/57).
Result: Odisha won by an innings & 56 runs.
Player of the Match: Tapas Das (7-wicket match haul).
Standings: Odisha 4th in Elite Group A (17 points from 6 matches)
Odisha’s last match: Vs Services at Cuttack from January 30.
