Vijay Hazare Trophy: Govind, Biplab’s SOS Of No Avail As Odisha Surrender To Baroda

Mumbai: The batsmen cut a sorry figure yet again as Odisha surrendered to Baroda by 148 runs in their Vijay Hazare Trophy clash at DY Patil Stadium here on Thursday.

Having let Baroda recover from a slow start to post 284/7, Odisha lost the plot in the first 7 overs itself as they collapsed to 10/4.

The SOS call to experienced duo Govind Poddar and Biplab Samantray – added to the squad midway through the tournament to bolster the weak batting – failed to change Odisha’s fortunes.

Opener Govind was run out for 6 while Biplab was dismissed for a duck by left-arm seamer Lukman Meriwala, who bagged 4/35 in 10 overs.

Rajesh Dhuper (49) and Kartik Biswal (44) did put up some resistance, adding 97 runs for the fifth wicket. But no one else stood up and managed to reach double digits.

This was Odisha’s third defeat in four Elite Group D matches, their only win coming against minnows Nagaland.

Except for that match against Nagaland, Odisha failed to post a total of 200. They managed 178 against Uttarakhand, 172 versus MP and 136 today.

Odisha face Jammu & Kashmir and a powerful Punjab in their last two group matches. Even if they win both, Odisha’s chances of advancing to the knockout stage are slim.

Brief scores: Baroda 284/7 in 50 overs (Pratyush Kumar 69, Vishnu Solanki 69, Bhanu Pania 55; Rajesh Mohanty 2/32). Odisha 136 all out in 35.3 overs (Rajesh Dhuper 49, Kartik Biswal 44; Lukman Meriwala 4/35).

Result: Baroda won by 148 runs.

Remaining matches: Vs J & K (Nov 19), Punjab (Nov 21).