Bhubaneswar: Orissa stunned last year runners-up Saurashtra by 32 runs in a Group B Ranji Trophy encounter on the fourth and the final day at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad, Sunday. Orissa bagged full six points from the outright win and garnered a total of seven points from two outings.
Chasing a victory target of 212 and resuming from overnight score of 95 for five, Saurashtra were bowled out for 179. Suryakanta Pradhan (5/69) turned out to be the wrecker-in-chief with a timely five wicket haul. Deepak Behera (1/23) and former skipper Biplab Samantray (1/30) also chipped in with a wicket each. Opener Sagar Jogiyani (68, 295b, 9×4) could not give enough resistance to Orissa mission and could add only 26 runs to the overnight total. Arpit Vasavada (45, 151b, 4×4) though lingered the inevitable with a gutsy knock. Both stitched together a partnership of 65 runs. But after the departure of both in quick succession, Suryakanta destroyed the tail quickly.
Orissa Cricket Association (OCA) secretary Asirbad Behera congratulated all the members of the team for their splendid victory. He announced a cash prize of `50,000 each for Sandeep Patnaik and Suryakanta Pradhan for their century and five-wicket haul respectively.
Brief scores
Orissa 228 and 169 beat Saurashtra 186 and 179 (Sagar Jogiyani 68, Arpit Vasavada 45; Suryakanta Pradhan 5/69) by 32 runs.
Other Group B matches
(At Mumbai): Maharashtra 635 for 2 decl; Delhi 590 (Dhruv Shorey 71, Rishabh Pant 308; Mohsin Sayyed 3-121, Chirag Khurana 3-143). Match drawn.
(At Greater Noida): Karnataka 577/6 and 162/3 (Karun Nair 54 n o, Kaunain Abbas 51 n o; Samar Quadri 3/62); Jharkhand 374 (Ishan Kishan 159 n o; Krishnappa Gowtham 3-97). Match drawn.
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