Mumbai: A knockout berth beckons as Odisha are sitting on top of the Vijay Hazare Trophy Elite Group A standings with 12 points, going into Tuesday’s last round of round-robin matches.
Odisha began their campaign with a comprehensive 63-run victory over Andhra Pradesh five days ago, and followed it up with impressive wins over domestic heavyweights Gujarat (by 3 wickets) and Vidarbha (by 6 wickets).
A fourth straight victory would have handed Odisha a direct quarterfinal berth by virtue of topping Elite Group A, but they came a cropper against bottom-rankers Jammu & Kashmir on Sunday, suffering a 95-run defeat.
Odisha can still finish as group winners, if they beat Himachal Pradesh, who are currently in second place with 8 points.
In case Odisha lose their final group league game, Himachal will top Elite Group A while the second-placed team will be decided on net run-rate.
Odisha will hope skipper Subhranshu Senapati continues his good form against Himachal. The captain led from the front with a century in the first game against Andhra, and made an unbeaten 71 versus Vidarbha.
They have to keep an eye on the net run-rate too. Of the top four teams right now, Odisha have the worst NRR (0.051). And if they are to qualify for the knockouts despite a defeat in their final group league game, Odisha must ensure their NRR is higher than that of their rivals.
Two teams from the six-team Elite Group A will qualify for the knockout stage, with the group toppers going through to the quarterfinals and the No. 2 team making it to the pre-quarterfinal.
CURRENT POSITION, ELITE GROUP A
Odisha — 12 pts from 4 matches, NRR +0.051
Himachal — 8 pts from 4 matches, NRR +0.384
Gujarat — 8 pts from 4 matches, NRR +0.075
Vidarbha — 8 pts from 4 matches, NRR +0.052
Andhra — 8 pts from 4 matches, NRR -0.371
J & K — 4 pts from 4 matches, NRR -0.160 .
