Bhubaneswar: Swastik Samal’s double hundred in Odisha’s Vijay Hazare Trophy opener had gone down the drain as Saurashtra chased down a target of 346. On Saturday, the Odisha opener again ended at the wrong end of the scoreline despite scoring a century as Haryana snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in their Elite Group D contest at KSCA ground, Alur.
Samal’s run-a-ball 101, studded with 10 fours and 3 sixes, complemented by Govinda Poddar’s 77 and skipper Biplab Samantray’s 47, helped Odisha post 305/9 in their allotted 50 overs.
Odisha looked to be well on course to notch up their fourth victory on the trot as they reduced Haryana to 14/3 and then 133/6. At that stage, Haryana needed 173 runs in 19.5 overs while Odisha had to pick the last four wickets.
Young allrounder Parth Vats turned the match on its head with a stunning knock of 159 not out off 136 balls, with 13 fours and 5 sixes. Coming in to bat with his team tottering at 14/3, the 21-year-old saw more wickets tumbling at the other end. However, he found an able ally in Anuj Thukral (59*), with whom Vats collaborated in a matchwinning 176-run partnership for the seventh wicket.
Vats and Thukral both completed a brilliant all-round show as they had earlier captured three wickets apiece in the Odisha innings.
BRIEF SCORES
Odisha 305/9 in 50 overs (Swastik Samal 101, Govinda Poddar 77, Biplab Samantray 47; Parth Vats 3/60, Anuj Thakral 3/68).
Haryana 309/6 in 48.4 overs (Parth Vats 157*, Anuj Thakral 59*; Biplab Samantray 2/48, Debabrata Pradhan 2/56).
Result: Haryana beat Odisha by 4 wickets.
Player of the Match: Parth Vats.
Points: Haryana 4, Odisha 0.
Group D standings: Haryana 2nd (16 points from 5 games), Odisha 3rd (12 points from 5).
Next match: Odisha vs Gujarat (Jan 6, Bengaluru).
