The pace trio set the platform for victory, sharing 19 wickets among themselves (Mohanty and Mangaj bagged seven each and Behera claimed five), while Sarangi and Podder finished with a half-century apiece.

Especially, the 155-run partnership for the third wicket between Sarangi and Podder proved to be the decisive factor. The duo brightened the victory hope by keeping the opposition bowlers at bay for most part of the crucial first two hours of the final day. Left-hander Sarangi top scored with 83 (203b, 11x4), while Podder hit a responsible 64 (167b, 8x4).

Of course, the departure of Sarangi led to Odisha coming under heavy pressure, losing three wickets within seven runs. However, useful contributions by captain Abhilash Mallick, Deepak Behera and Biplab Samantaray enabled the home team cross over the finish line. Saurashtra all-rounder Chirag Jani received the man of the match from OCA secretary Asirbad Behera for hitting an unbeaten 99 in the first innings and taking one wicket in each innings.

Earlier put into bat, Saurashtra fought back from 99 for eight to compile a modest total of 218. In reply, Odisha were bundled out for 88 with Sudeep Tyagi taking five wickets for 24 runs. In the second innings, Saurashtra made 152, thanks to a brave unbeaten 39 by Test batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, who came to bat at No 9 despite having five stitches in his right-hand webbing, which he split while taking a catch in the slips on the third day.

SCOREBOARD
SAURASHTRA (1st innings): Sagar Jogiyani lbw D Behera 21, Snell Patel c Podder b Mohanty 3, Cheteshwar Pujara b Mohanty 20, Sheldon Jackson c Samantaray b Mangaraj 12, Jaydev Shah c S Sahoo b D Behera 10, Arpit Vasavada lbw Mangaraj 1, Chirag Jani (not out) 99, D Jadeja b Mohanty 4, Jaydev Unadkar lbw Mohanty 0, Siddharth Trivedi c Samantaray b Mangaraj 19, Sudip Tyagi c S Sahoo b Mangaraj 9; Extras (b-12, lb-5, nb-3) 20
Total (All out; 79.3 overs) 218
Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-58, 3-64, 4-75, 5-77, 6-87, 7-95, 8-99, 9-146, 10-218
Bowling: Basant Mohanty 20-7-40-4, Deepak Behera 20-8-38-2, Biplab Samantaray 13-4-28-0, Alok Mangaraj 18.5-7-57-4, Paresh Patel 4.4-0-18-0, Govind Podder 3-0-20-0.
ODISHA (1st innings): Paresh Patel c Jogiyani b Jani 27, Girija Rout b Unadkat 18, Govind Podder b Tyagi 2, Anurag Sarangi b Trivedi 5, Natraj Behera c Jogiyani b Unadkat 19, Biplab Samantaray b Tyagi 2, Abhilash Mallick c Jogiyani b Tyagi 4, Deepak Behera c Makwana b Unadkat 2, Subhrajit Sahoo b Tyagi 1, Basant Mohanty b Tyagi 0, Alok Mangaraj (not out) 0; Extras (b-4, lb-1, nb-1, w-2) 8
Total (All out; 40.5 overs) 88
Fall of wickets: 1-27, 2-33, 3-46, 4-63, 5-77, 6-81, 7-87, 8-87, 9-87, 10-88
Bowling: J Unadkat 14-2-33-3, Sudip Tyagi 12.5-2-24-5, S Trivedi 10-4-14-1, C Jani 4-0-12-1
SAURASHTRA (2nd innings): S Jogiyani c Sahoo b Mangaraj 11, S Patel c Sahoo b D Behera 6, A Vasavada c Sahoo b D Behera 0, S Jackson c N Behera b Mohanty 19, J Shah b Mohanty 15, C Jani lbw D Behera 3, D Jadeja b Mohanty 24, J Unadkat (run out) 18, C Pujara (not out) 39, S Trivedi b Mangaraj 7, S Tyagi b Mangaraj 0; Extras (b-5, lb-2, w-1, nb-2) 10
Total (All out; 66.5 overs) 152
Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-18, 3-24, 4-46, 5-53, 6-58, 7-82, 8-135, 9-152, 10-152
Bowling: Basant Mohanty 19-8-35-3, Deepak Behera 19-10-29-3, Alok Mangaraj 16.5-1-51-3, Biplab Samantaray 9-3-17-0, Paresh Patel 3-0-13-0.
ODISHA (2nd innings): P Patel c Vasavada b Tyagi 14, G Rout c Jogiyani b Trivedi 22, G Podder b Unadkat 64, A Sarangi lbw Jani 83, N Behera b Unadkat 0, B Samantaray c Unadkat b Trivedi 19, A Mallick c Vasavada b Trivedi 21, S Sahoo c Jogiyani b Trivedi 6, D Behera (not out) 21, B Mohanty (not out) 9; Extras (b-12, lb-10, w-1) 23
Total (8 wkts; 102 overs) 282
Fall of wickets: 1-32, 2-38, 3-193, 4-199, 5-200, 6-229, 7-243, 8-262
Bowling: J Unadkat 26-8-65-2, S Tyagi 24-5-82-1, S Trivedi 23-5-45-4, C Jani 21-5-55-1, D Jadeja 6-2-7-0, A Vasadava 2-0-6-0
--------------------------------------------------------------- PHOTOS ---------------------------------------------------------------
TOP: Odisha team pose after winning their Ranji Trophy match against Saurashtra in Cuttack on February 9, 2015.
BELOW: Top scorer Anurag Sarangi in action against Saurashtra on February 9, 2015.