Brilliant allround performance by Pratik Das powered hosts Odisha to an 82-run win over Assam in their East Zone Inter-State T20 league match here at Barabati Stadium on Thursday. This was the second straight win for Odisha and they moved to the top of the league table with eight points from two games.
Playing only his second T20 match for the state, Bhubaneswar allrounder Pratik hit a 21-ball 34 as opener, bagged five wickets for 18 runs with his off-spin bowling and held two catches. Electing to bat, the home team mustered an imposing total of 192 for four. In reply, Assam folded up for 110 with 2.1 overs to spare.
With all five frontline batsmen making notable contributions, Odisha enjoyed upperhand from the start of the match. Govind Podder was the top scorer with a 29-ball 47, which included seven hits to the fence. Pratik and Anurag Sarangi gave Odisha a sound start putting on 63 runs for the opening wicket in 7.5 overs. Opening the innings for the first time Sarangi scored a 30-ball 43, which included four boundaries and two sixes. Aravinda Singh (34 n.o, 23b, 5x4, 2x6) and captain Biplab Samantaray (28, 21b, 2x4, 1x6) batted with aggression to enable the home team set up a stiff target for the opposition to chase.
Pratik turned the match into a lop-sided contest by striking twice in the eighth and 12th over. Opener Pallav Kumar Das was the only Assam batsman to offer some resistance. He top scored with 34 before being castled by Pratik. After a day`s rest, Odisha will take on Jharkhand on Saturday.
SCOREBOARD
ODISHA: Pratik Das (run out) 28, Anurag Sarangi c Pallav Das b S Mohammed 43, Govinda Podder c Pallav Das b Purkayastha 47, Biplab Samantaray c Purkayastha b S Mohammed 28, Aravind Singh (not out) 34, Deepak Behera (not out) 5; Extras (lb-1, nb-1, w-5) 7
Total (4 wkts; 20 overs) 192
Fall of wickets: 1-63, 2-79, 3-135, 4-173
Bowling: Arup Das 4-0-37-0, Pritam Das 3-0-32-0, Abu Nechim Ahmed 3-0-43-0, Pallav Kumar Das 1-0-9-0, Sarupam Purkayastha 4-0-41-1, Syed Mohammed 4-0-20-2, Sibsankar Roy 1-0-9-0
ASSAM: Pallav Das b P Das 34, KB Arun Karthick b Pradhan 5, Dheeraj Jadhav c P Das b D Behera 2, Sibsankar Roy c P Das b J Behera 14, Sarupam Purkayastha c&b P Das 0, Amit Sinha c Rao b P Das 10, Syed Mohammed c D Behera b P Das 6, Romario Sharma lbw P Das 0, Abu Nechim Ahmed c Samantaray b D Behera 17, Pritam Das (not out) 13, Arup Das lbw Samal 3; Extras (lb-1, w-5) 6
Total (all out; 17.5 overs) 110
Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-28, 3-59, 4-59, 5-59, 6-71, 7-71, 8-78, 9-98, 10-110
Bowling: Suryakant Pradhan 2-0-20-1, Deepak Behera 3-0-23-2, Alok Mangaraj 2-0-13-0, Lagnajit Samal 2.5-0-24-1, Pratik Das 4-0-18-5, Jayanta Behera 4-1-11-1.

TRIPURA LOSE AGAIN: Opening batsman Rakesh Solanki`s belligerent knock of 76 went in vain as Tripura lost to Jharkhand by five runs in another league match earlier in the day. This was the second defeat in as many matches for Tripura, who had lost to Odisha by 34 runs earlier today.
Chasing 152 for victory, Tripura could make 147 in the stipulated overs, losing three wickets in the process. Solanki, who had scored 68 against Odisha, dazzled with the bat again, hitting 11 fours and one six in his 58-ball knock against Jharkhand. Earlier opting to bat first, Jharkhand made 152 for seven.
Brief score: Jharkhand 152/7 in 20 overs (Virat Singh 37, Saurabh Tiwary 35, Ishank Jaggi 30; Swapan Das 2/27) beat Tripura 147/3 in 20 overs (Rakesh Solanki 76, Udiyan Bose 28, Yogesh Takawale 20).
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PHOTO: Odisha allrounder Pratik Das in Cuttack on March 26, 2015.