Post News Network
Cuttack, Jan 3: Orissa’s poor form continued as they suffered their second consecutive loss in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 cricket tournament at the Barabati Stadium here Sunday. Uttar Pradesh outplayed the hosts by 32 runs in their second match.
Opener Prashant Gupta (53, 40b, 5×4, 1×6) hit a quickfire fifty before spinners turned
on the heat to help Uttar Pradesh beat Orissa in a Group D encounter.
Put into bat, UP rode on a 84-run second wicket partnership between Gupta and captain Eklavya Dwivedi (47, 46b, 5×4, 1×6) to post a challenging 150 for five in the stipulated 20 overs.
UP spinners, Amit Mishra, Kuldeep Yadav and Piyush Chawla, then shared two wickets apiece to help UP restrict Orissa to 118 for eight.
Pace spearhead Praveen Kumar, who shared a wicket with new-ball partner Ankit Rajpoot, gave UP their first breakthrough and the spinners soon spun into action.
Roshan Kumar Rao (31 n o, 30b, 2×4) top-scored with a gutsy knock, while skipper Govinda Poddar (22, 20b, 3×4) supported him to some extent. But the rest of the batsmen disappointed.
Brief Scores
Uttar Pradesh 150/5 (Prashant Gupta 53, Eklavya Dwivedi 47; Alok Sahoo 2/23, Biplab Samantray 2/17) bt Orissa 118/8 (Roshan Kumar Rao 31 n o, Govinda Poddar 22; Amit Mishra 2/32, Kuldeep Yadav 2/24, Piyush Chawla 2/18) by 32 runs.
