Ranji Trophy: Odisha Suffer Innings Defeat As Anurag Sarangi’s 93 Goes In Vain

Dehradun: Anurag Sarangi’s valiant fight was not enough as Odisha collapsed to an innings-and-99-run defeat against Uttarakhand in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A fixture at Abhimanyu Cricket Academy ground here on Friday.

Going into the fourth and final day at 97/4 in their second innings after conceding a lead of 264 runs, Odisha folded up for a paltry 165.

Left-handed opener Anurag resumed on 59, and banked on support from the middle and late-order batsmen to pull off an unlikely draw for Odisha.

But even as Anurag showed the stomach for a fight, wickets kept falling at the other end.

Medium-pacer Abhay Negi turned out to be Odisha’s chief tormentor, bagging 5 of the 6 wickets to fall today – including that of Anurag, who was caught by skipper Jiwanjot Singh just 7 runs short of a century.

As many as 8 Odisha batsmen failed to reach double-digits, with three of them not even opening their account.

Odisha, with a solitary point after 2 games, are at sixth place in the 8-team group, while Uttarakhand are on top with 13 points.

Brief scores: Odisha 213 & 165 (Anurag Sarangi 93; Abhay Negi 5/33). Uttarakhand 477.

Result: Uttarakhand won by an innings and 99 runs.

Points: Uttarakhand 7, Odisha 0.