Kolkata: Odisha reserved their best for the last.
Out of reckoning for a Ranji Trophy knockout berth, Odisha stunned group toppers Bengal by 7 wickets at Eden Gardens to give Basant Mohanty a memorable farewell.
Having forced Bengal to follow on in the Elite Group A fixture, Odisha bowlers continued their good work on the final day to set up a victory that Odisha cricket lovers will remember forever.
Young pacer Sunil Roul, who made his first-class debut earlier this month, was the wrecker-in-chief, bagging 6/96 in the second innings and 9/115 in the match.
Old warhorse Basant played his part in his final first-class game as well, picking up 2 wickets in the second innings.
The 37-year-old medium-pacer Basant, who made his debut for Odisha 15 years ago, ended his career with 403 wickets in 105 matches. His teammates showed their appreciation for the yeoman service by carrying Basant off the field.
After dismissing Bengal for 276 in the second innings – capturing the last 7 wickets for 47 runs on Friday – Odisha knocked off the required 112 runs for victory losing 3 wickets. Opener Anurag Sarangi made 37 while the Pattnaiks – Sandeep and Rakesh – guided the team home with unbeaten knocks of 28 and 20, respectively.
Odisha earned 6 points to lift themselves from seventh and finish fifth with 14 points.
Brief scores: Odisha 265 & 112/3 (Anurag Sarangi 37, Sandeep Pattnaik 28*, Rakesh Pattnaik 20*; Akash Ghatak 2/29). Bengal 100 & 276 (Abhimanyu Easwaran 101, Manoj Tiwary 52; Sunil Roul 6/96, Basant Mohanty 2/33).
Result: Odisha won by 7 wickets.
Points: Odisha 6, Bengal 0.
How they finished: 1. Bengal (32 pts); 2. Uttarakhand (29 pts); 3. Himachal (21 pts); 4. Baroda (21 pts); 5. Odisha (14 pts); 6. UP (13 pts); 7. Haryana (13 pts); 8. Nagaland (2 pts).
