Odisha Senior Men cricket team suffered a 10-wicket embarrassing defeat against Kerala in their opening Elite Group-A match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 Tournament at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh today.
Kerala opener Rohan Kunnummal literally blew away Odisha with an unbeaten century. His 60-ball swashbuckling knock of 121 was studded with 10 boundaries and as many sixes. Chasing a challenging target of 177, Kerala romped home with 21 balls to spare and all the wickets intact. Kerala captain and India star Sanju Samson remained unbeaten on 51.
Earlier put into bat, Odisha rode on a half-century by captain Biplab Samantray and his 79-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Sambit Baral (40) to muster a competitive total of 176 for seven. It was surprising that despite playing their opening match, Odisha fielded three debutants, including Vageesh Sharma, an imported medium-pace bowler from Delhi.
An unknown cricketer, Vageesh, it seemed, was shielded from ruthless Kerala attack as he bowled only two overs. Of the other two debutants were: wicket-keeper Sourav Gouda was bowled for a duck, while Badal Biswal conceded 44 runs in four overs, without taking any wicket. Odisha will next meet Andhra at the same venue on November 28.
SCORECARD
ODISHA: Swastik Samal c Ankit Sharma b Nidheesh 20, Gourav Choudhury c Ahammed Imran b Nidheesh 29, Subhranshu Senapati c Vishnu Vinod b Ankit Sharma 15, Biplab Samantray (c) c Ankit Sharma b Asif 53, Sambit Baral c Vishnu Vinod b Nidheesh 40, Prayash Singh c Ahammed Imran b Asif 1, Sourav Gouda (wk) c Salman Nizar b Nidheesh 0, Rajesh Mohanty not out 3; Extras (b-5, lb-8, w-2) 15
Total (7 wickets, 20 overs) 176
Did not bat: Pappu Roy, Vageesh Sharma, Badal Biswal
Fall of wickets: 1-48 (Samal, 4.2 overs), 2-55 (Choudhury, 4.6), 3-75 (Senapati, 7.2), 4-154 (Baral, 16.6), 5-161 (Singh, 17.6), 6-170 (Gouda, 18.4), 7-176 (Samantray, 19.6)
Kerala bowling: Saly Samson 3-0-33-0, MD Nidheesh 4-0-35-4, KM Asif 4-0-24-2, Ankit Sharma 4-0-32-1, Abdul Basith 3-0-20-0, Akhil Scaria 2-0-19-0.
KERALA: Sanju Samson (c, wk) not out 51, Rohan Kunnummal not out 121; Extras (nb-2, w-3) 5
Total (0 wicket 16.3 overs) 177
Did not bat: Vishnu Vinod, Ahammed Imran, Abdul Basith, Ankit Sharma, Akhil Scaria, KM Asif, MD Nidheesh, Salman Nizar, Saly Samson
Odisha bowling: Rajesh Mohanty 3-0-34-0, Vageesh Sharma 2-0-17-0, Pappu Roy 3.3-0-42-0, Badal Biswal 4-0-44-0, Sambit Baral 1-0-11-0, Biplab Samantray 2-0-18-0, Prayash Singh 1-0-11-0.
Player of the Match: Rohan Kunnummal.
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PHOTO: Odisha captain Biplab Samantray (Left) hands over the State cap to T20 debutant Vageesh Sharma before their SM Ali Trophy match against Kerala in Lucknow on 26 November 2025.