Bhubaneswar: Odisha slumped to their first loss of the Ranji Trophy season as Uttar Pradesh registered a 10-wicket victory on the fourth and final day of their Elite Group C encounter here at the KIIT Stadium, Thursday. UP skipper Akshdeep Nath was adjudged man of the match for his brilliant first innings century.
Chasing a target of just 42 runs in their second essay, UP openers Madhav Kaushik (22 n o) and Mohammed Saif (16 n o) took their team home in just 12.5 overs. With this victory UP remain on top of the table with 14 points from two games while Odisha languish at eighth spot with just a point from two matches.
Earlier, resuming the day at 180/7 and trailing by a single run in their second innings, Odisha could add only 41 runs to their overnight total. Rajesh Mohanty (10) was the first to go trying to hit a wide short-pitched Shivam Mavi (5/68) delivery, giving a simple catch to Saurabh Kumar at mid-wicket.
Mavi also accounted for overnight batsman Shantanu Mishra (37) to bag his maiden first class five-wicket haul before Ankit Rajpoot (4/64) finished off the innings dismissing Basant Mohanty (12) to give his team a very small total to win.
Speaking after the match, Odisha spinner Pappu Roy admitted that things didn’t went for them as planned and hoped that they will come back with a win in their next match against Assam in Guwahati.
“Things obviously didn’t go as planned for us. In all the four days, there was nothing for the bowlers after the morning session. We are really disappointed but hopefully we will do well in the next match,” Pappu said.
However, in a development Thursday evening, wicket-keeper batsman Rajesh Dhuper has been included in the Odisha squad replacing Sandeep Pattnaik for their next match against Assam at Guwahati, starting November 20.
Brief scores: Odisha 256 & 221 (Shantanu Mishra 37; Shivam Mavi 5/68, Ankit Rajpoot 4/64) lost to Uttar Pradesh 437 & 44/0 (Madhav Kaushik 22, Mohammed Saif 16) by 10 wickets.
