Riding on a six-wicket haul by Bratee Behera and an unbeaten century by Abinash Pradhan, Balasore pulverized Deogarh by 199 runs in their preliminary league match of the Kalahandi Cup Inter-District Cricket Tournament (Senior & U-19 Men) at Bidanasi Ground in Cuttack today.

Originally scheduled to be played on July 29 at East Coast Railway Stadium in Bhubaneswar, the match was abandoned without a ball bowled due to wet outfield. Put into bat in the rescheduled match, Balasore piled up a healthy total of 245 for six in 50 overs.

Among successful Balasore batsmen, wicket-keeper Abinash Pradhan cracked an unbeaten 108 off 165 balls, while Nauttam Bhanja slammed an aggressive 63 off 67 deliveries.

In reply, Deogarh were skittled out for a paltry 46. Bratee Behera destroyed the Deogarh innings, bagging six wickets for 27 runs, while Nauttam Bhanja and Ronak Pani provided him good support, picking up two wickets each.

RESULTS (3 August, 2021):

Match 26 (At Bidanasi Ground, Cuttack): Balasore 245/6 in 50 overs (Abinash Pradhan 108*, Nauttam Bhanja 63, Ronald Das 22; Preetish P Chhatria 2/33, Manoj K Dalei 2/39) beat Deogarh 46/10 in 16.4 overs (Bratee S Behera 6/27, Nauttam Bhanja 2/0, Ronak K Pani 2/15) by 199 runs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PHOTO: Balasore bowler Bratee Behera with the ball that fetched him six wickets against Deogarh on 3 August, 2021.