Beleagured Odisha suffered a hat-trick of defeats in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 Tournament when they lost to Tamil Nadu by eight wickets in their third Elite Group-B match at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata today. Even a change in leadership could not make any difference to the plight of the Odisha team.

A day before the match against Tamil Nadu, Biplab Samantray became the new captain of Odisha, replacing Subhranshu Senapati, who, according to a press release from Odisha Cricket Association, expressed his unwillingness to lead the side and proposed to pass the mantle to Samantray.

Odisha made two changes in their team for the match against Tamil Nadu, dropping opening batsmen Aditya Rout and Shantanu Mishra. They were replaced by Gaurav Choudhury and Sarbeswar Mohanty. Opting to bat after Samantray won the toss, Odisha made modest total of 132 for nine.

Among Odisha batsmen, No 8 Suryakanta Pradhan was the top scorer with a cameo 23 (10 balls, 1x4, 2x6). Captain Samantray and experienced campaigner Govinda Poddar failed to reach double figures. Opener-cum-stumper Rajesh Dhuper and Senapati got starts, but could not carry on beyond twenties.

In reply, Tamil Nadu overhauled the target easily with 29 balls to spare. Narayan Jagadeesan spearheaded the Tamil Nadu chase, hitting a 38-ball 61. This was the third successive win for Tamil Nadu, who jumped to the top of the group with 12 points.

Suryakant Pradhan was most economic among Odisha bowlers, conceding 13 runs in two overs. On the other hand, Poddar was most expensive, leaking 26 runs in two overs. Odisha opening batsman Gaurav Choudhury made his T20 debut in this match. Odisha will next meet Jharkhand at the Eden Gardens on January 16.

SCORECARD

ODISHA: Gourav Choudhury b Kishore 19, Rajesh Dhuper c Nishanth b Crist 22, Govinda Poddar c Crist b Warrier 8, Subhranshu Senapati c Aparajith b Ashwin 20, Biplab Samantray c Arun Karthik b Crist 7, Ankit Yadav b Ashwin 4, Sarbeswar Mohanty lbw Ashwin 16, Suryakant Pradhan c Warrier b Mohammed 23, Rajesh Mohanty c Ashwin b Mohammed 4, Ankitkar Jaiswal not out 2, Pappu Roy not out 0; Extras (b-4, lb-2, w-1) 7
Total (9 wickets, 20 overs, RR: 6.60) 132
Fall of wickets: 1-34 (Choudhury, 3.2 ov), 2-43 (Poddar, 4.6 ov), 3-71 (Senapati, 10.5 ov), 4-78 (Dhuper, 12.2 ov), 5-82 (Samantray, 12.4 ov), 6-96 (Yadav, 15.4 ov), 7-124 (S Mohanty, 18.2 ov), 8-130 (Pradhan, 19.4 ov), 9-130 (R Mohanty, 19.5 ov)
Bowling: Sandeep Warrier 4-0-34-1, Aswin Crist 4-0-34-2, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore 4-0-12-1, Murugan Ashwin 4-0-16-3, M Mohammed 4-0-30-2.

TAMIL NADU: C Hari Nishanth c Yadav b Roy 29, Narayan Jagadeesan c Choudhury b Yadav 61, Arun Karthik not out 28, Shahrukh Khan not out 18; Extras 0
Total (2 wickets, 15.1 overs, RR: 8.96) 136
Did not bat: M Mohammed, Aswin Crist, Sandeep Warrier, Baba Aparajith, Dinesh Karthik (c), Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Murugan Ashwin
Fall of wickets: 1-56 (Nishanth, 6.3 ov), 2-110 (Jagadeesan, 12.3 ov)
Bowling: Pappu Roy 4-0-32-1, Suryakant Pradhan 2-0-13-0, Govinda Poddar 2-0-26-0, Rajesh Mohanty 2-0-23-0, Ankitkar Jaiswal 3.1-0-25-0, Ankit Yadav 2-0-17-1.
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PHOTO: Undated file picture of Odisha allrounder Suryakant Pradhan.