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Cuttack, March 26: Orissa took a giant step towards qualifying for the next stage of the T20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy tournament when they swept aside Assam by 82 runs in the second game of the qualifiers here Thursday at the Barabati Stadium thanks to an all-round effort from Pratik Das.
After opting to bat first, Orissa piled up 192 runs for the loss of four wickets. Openers Anurag Sarangi (43, 30b, 4×4, 2×6) and Pratik (28) stitched a 63-run stand to lay a solid foundation. Vice-captain Govind Poddar (47, 29b, 7×4) and skipper Biplab Samantray (28, 21b, 2×4, 1×6) then used the long handle to take the score past the 130-run mark. Arvind Singh (34, 13b, 5×4, 2×6) played a cameo at the end to put Orissa in a position of strength. Syed Mohammad (2/20) bowled well for the visitors.
In reply, Assam were never in the game and kept on losing wickets at regular intervals. Pratik (5/18) created havoc with the ball as his part time off-breaks left the Assam batsmen in a dizzy. Only opener Pallav Kumar Das (34, 21b, 5×4) provided some resistance with the bat. Deepak Behera (2/23) also chipped in with crucial wickets to put the final nail in Assam’s coffin.
Orissa are now top of the East Zone group with eight points from two games. Assam who had stunned pre-tournament favourites Bengal, however, dented their qualifying chances with the defeat.
Brief scores: Orissa 192 for four wickets (Govind Podder 47, Anurag Sarangi 43; Syed Mohammad 2/20) beat Assam 104 (Pallav Kumar Das 34; Pratik Das 5/18, Deepak Behera 2/23) by 82 runs.
Other game
Jharkhand 152 for seven wickets (Virat Singh 37, Saurabh Tiwary 35; Swapan Das 2/27) beat Tripura 147 for three wickets (Rakesh Solanki 76) by five runs
