Lucknow: Odisha snatched a nerve-wracking one-wicket win off the last ball in their Syed Mushtaq Ali (T20) Trophy match against Chandigarh here on Sunday.
It was Odisha’s second win in four matches. They next face Jharkhand on Thursday.
Chasing 180 to win, Odisha were 166/7 at the start of the 20th over. Tailenders Sushil Barik and Rajesh Mohanty were both run out off the first two balls in their effort to hand strike to in-form batsman Rakesh Pattnaik.
Reduced to 166/9, Odisha needed 14 runs in 4 balls as last man Mustaq Beg joined Rakesh. Fortunately, Rakesh got the strike and did the needful to take Odisha over the line with some big hits.
Rakesh, who came in to bat at No. 5 with Odisha much behind the asking rate at 82/3 in the 13th over, almost singlehandedly taking the responsibility to accelerate and remaining unbeaten with 61 off just 24 balls.
The 30-year-old Rakesh, who made his debut for Odisha in the Vijay Hazare (50-over) Trophy last year, smashed 7 fours and 4 sixes. Subhranshu Senapati chipped in with 47, but Odisha would have struggled to win had it not been for Rakesh’s onslaught.
Earlier, Chandigarh put up a decent total of 179/6 in the Elite Group E fixture, after being asked to bat first by Odisha skipper Abhishek Raut.
After being reduced to 36/3, it was Bhagmender Lather and Ankit Kaushik who revived Chandigarh’s innings. Lather smacked 7 sixes and a 4 on way to a top score of 59 (41 balls).
Tarani Sa and Raut bagged two wickets each.
Brief scores: Chandigarh 179/6 in 20 overs (Bhagmender Lather 59, Ankit Kaushik 38; Tarani Sa 2/25, Abhishek Raut 2/29). Odisha 181/6 (Rakesh Pattnaik 61*, Subhranshu Senapati 47; Jagjit Singh 4/29).
Result: Odisha won by 1 wicket.
Remaining matches: Vs Jharkhand (Oct 20), vs Chhattisgarh (Oct 22).
