Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Jan 14: With almost all the foreign players except skipper Moritz Furste joining the squad, Lancers practiced with full vigour under the watchful eyes of Mark William Hager at the Kalinga Stadium here Thursday evening.
“We will get couple of days more to practice and our main aim will be to find out the right combination among the foreign and Indian players,” stated Hager. “We will also play couple of practice matches in next two days. That will help us judge ourselves as a unit,” he added.
After a physical training session with trainer David John, the players were divided into two categories. The defenders practiced various drills while Hager laid special emphasis on penalty corner conversions.
“We have got a very strong side and hopefully we will put up an improved show this time,” stated goalkeeper Andrew Charter. “We have got some good practice and will play a couple of practice games to get in shape. The passionate support of the home fans will also work in our favour,” the affable guy added.
Eves lose
Orissa suffered their third successive loss going down by five wickets against Maharashtra in the Senior Women’s T20 Super League cricket tournament at Indore, Thursday.
Opting to bat first, Orissa could only manage 80 for the loss of eight wickets. Sarita Meher (23) was the only player to show some sort of intent with the bat.
In reply Maharashtra had no trouble as they overhauled the total in 16 overs for the loss of five wickets with SS Madhana (31) leading the way. Sushree Pradhan (3/20) bowled well for Orissa.
Massive win
Keonjhar beat Phulbani by a huge margin of 176 runs in a match of the Sumit Bose Memorial OCA U-16 Inter-District cricket tournament at the DRIEMS Ground in Cuttack, Thursday.
Batting first, Keonjhar rode on a brilliant century by Dinesh Kumar Nayak (113) to score 284 for the loss of eight wickets in 50 overs. In reply Phulbani were bundled out for a meagre 118 in 29.5 overs. Pankaj Senapati (4/13) and Ashutosh Ray (4/20) bowled well to share eight wickets among themselves.