Odisha continued its absolute supremacy in the East Zone Cricket Tournament for the Blind by winning the title for the sixth time in a row at Kolkata today. Led by Mohammad Jafar Iqbal, Odisha beat host West Bengal in the final by 77 runs.

Batting first, Odisha mustered an imposing total of 185 in the stipulated 10 overs. In reply, West Bengal could make 108 runs, losing seven wickets in the process. Lingaraj Routray was the top scorer for Odisha with 80 runs to his name. Among other successful Odisha batsmen, Pankaj Bhue and Nakul Badanayak contributed 40 and 36 runs respectively.

Earlier, Odisha beat Tripura by 72 runs and Jharkhand by 27 runs to qualify for the final. Jafar Iqbal and Lingaraj Routray bagged the man of the tournament prizes in b1 and b3 categories respectively.

The 16-member Odisha team will proced to Mumbai to participate in the 25th National Cricket Tournament for the Visually Impaired, scheduled to be held there from October 30 to November 3.

According to Cricket Association for the Visually Impaired (CAVI) Odisha secretary Sannyas Kumar Behera, the zonal and national tournaments will serve as the basis for selection of 42 probables for the Indian team for participation in the 5th ODI World Cup for the Blind, scheduled to take place at Dubai from January 8 to 15, 2018.

ODISHA TEAM: Md Jafar Iqbal (captain) Kalia Pradhan, Tapan Kumar Gauda, Anil Kumar Mallick, Debraj Behera, Pankaj Bhue, Nakula Badnaik, Jujhar Bari, Singrai Majhi, Lalprasad Soren, Sukhram Majhi, Biswanath Khara, Lingraj Rautray, Sukdev Soren (wk). Manager: Jogendra Jani; Coach: Chandra Sekhar Patnaik.
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PHOTO: Players of Odisha team pose after emerging East Zone champions in Kolkata on October 22, 2017.