Bhubaneswar: It was Swastik Samal’s most memorable day in his cricketing career as he scored his maiden double century at the senior level for Odisha in first-class or List A cricket.
However, Samal’s brilliant 212 was not enough for his team as Saurashtra chased down a target 346 with seven balls to spare in the Vijay Hazare Trophy clash at KSCA ground in Alur, Karnataka on Wednesday.
Asked to bat first, Odisha were reduced to 59/3 in 12 overs before opener Samal and skipper Samantray took control. Samal smashed 21 fours and 8 sixes in his 169-ball knock, while Samantray raced to 100 off 91 balls with the help of 7 fours and 3 sixes.
They added a record 261 runs for the fourth wicket before the partnership was broken in the 47th over.
Samal forced his name into t
he record books, becoming the first Odisha batter to hit a double hundred in List A cricket. His 212 was the fifth-highest score in the history of Vijay Hazare Trophy, surpassing Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 203 for Mumbai in 2019.
Defending a big score, Odisha made two early breakthroughs as Debabrata Pradhan struck in his second and fourth over to reduce Saurashtra to 28/2. Odisha were on top even when Saurashtra were 148/4 after 28 overs.
But then Samar Gajjar (132* off 113 balls) and Chirag Jani (86 off 55 balls) took the game away from Odisha with a 146-run collaboration in just over 16 overs.
Odisha used as many as eight bowlers, but they failed to stop the free flow of runs as Saurashtra reached 347/5.
BRIEF SCORES
Odisha 345/6 in 50 overs (Swastik Samal 212, Biplab Samantray 100; Ankur Panwar 3/68).
Saurashtra 347/5 in 48.5 overs (Samar Gajjar 132, Chirag Jani 86; Debabrata Pradhan 3/73).
Result: Saurashtra beat Odisha by 5 wickets.
Player of the Match: Swastik Samal.
Next match: Odisha vs Services on Dec 26 at Alur.