Maiden List A centuries by skipper Biplab Samantray and Anurag Sarangi powered Odisha to a nail-biting one-run win over Goa in their quarterfinal match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy Tournament at Madhav Rao Scindia Cricket ground in Rajkote today. With this win, Odisha made their maiden entry to the semifinals, where they will meet the winners of the last quarterfinal between Punjab and Railways.

Put into bat Odisha rode on a 188-run stand for the fourth wicket between Samantray and Sarangi to compile a healthy total of 289. In reply, Goa were restricted to 288 for nine despite making a valiant chase. Samantray also shone with the ball, conceding only six runs in the final over and finishing with two wickets for 50 runs.

Earlier, Samantray slammed 100 off 73 balls before he was dismissed by medium-pacer Saurabh Bandekar, the most successful Goa bowler, who returned with a five-wicket haul. Odisha skipper`s sparkling knock was laced with 11 boundaries and two sixes. Sarangi, however, emerged the top scorer with a run-a-ball 112, which included 12 hits to the fence and one over it.

The way Samantray and Sarangi batted, it seemed Odisha would end up with a 300-plus total. But the fall of last seven wickets for 26 runs and five among those in the last nine balls prevented them from cashing on the opportunity.

Despite chasing a stiff target, Goa kept their victory hope alive thanks to a century by opener Amogh Desai (110 off 139b, 12x4, 1x6) and his 169-run partnership for the second with Sagun Kamat, who hit an unbeaten 92 (87b, 5x4, 5x6). But after the latter was retired hurt due to a muscle cramp, Odisha bounced back into the game, grabbing six wickets for 24 runs.

Odisha, of course, suffered a few hiccups with the opposition No 10 batsman Shadab Jakati playing a couple of sixes towards the end. With Goa needing eight runs for victory in the final over, Samantray`s tight bowling, enabled Odisha clinch a last-ball win.

Odisha coach Debasis Mohanty attributed the semifinal entry of the team as a result of good preparation, proper planning and perfect execution. ``Playing three all India tournaments at Bangalore, Chennai and Pune helped us prepare well for the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The team is thankful to Odisha Cricket Association secretary Mr Asirbad Behera for giving opportunities to play three preparatory tournaments,’’ said Mohanty.

SCOREBOARD
ODISHA: Paresh Patel c Kamat b Jakati 39, Girija Rout lbw Bandekar 8, Natraj Behera b Bandekar 10, Anurag Sarangi c Desai b Misal 112, Biplab Samantray c S Asnodkar b Bandekar 100, Abhilash Mallick (run out) 8, Arabind Singh b Bandekar 3, Suryakant Pradhan b Bandekar 3, A Gope (not out) 2, Basant Mohanty b Misal 0, Dhiraj Singh (run out) 0; Extras (b-3, w-1) 4
Total (all out; 49.4 overs) 289
Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-29, 3-75, 4-263, 5-272, 6-282, 7-286, 8-289, 9-289, 10-289
Bowling: S Bandekar 10-2-37-5, R D`Souza 8-1-48-0, S Naik 5-0-41-0, Amit Yadav 8-0-48-0, S Jakati 6-0-33-1, D Misal 8.4-0-56-2, A Desai 4-0-23-0.
GOA: Amogh Desai c Rout b D Singh 110, Swapnil Asnodkar c Sarangi b Mohanty 8, Sagun Kamat (not out) 92, Keenan c D Singh b Samantray 18, Darshan Misal c Mohanty b Patel 6, Rohit Asnodkar c Samantaray b D Singh 1, Saurabh Bandekar (run out) N Behera 2, Robin Dsouza c&b Samantaray 17, Amit Yadav c D Singh b Patel 0, Shadab Jakati (not out) 26, Sagar Naik (run out) Patel 2; Extras (w-5, nb-1) 6
Total (9 wkts; 50 overs) 288
Fall of wickets: 1-26, 2-218, 3-231, 4-237, 5-241, 6-242, 7-242, 8-270, 9-287
Bowling: Basant Mohanty 9-2-53-1, Suryakant Pradhan 7-1-30-0, Biplab Samantaray 10-0-50-2, Arabind Singh 2-0-13-0, Paresh Patel 10-0-70-2, Abhilash Mallick 3-0-20-0, Dhiraj Singh 6-0-35-2, Anurag Sarangi 3-0-17-0.
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PHOTO: Odisha skipper Biplab Samantray