High-flying Odisha overcame a few hiccups at the climax to edge out Tamil Nadu by two runs in their fifth and last Elite Group-B league match in the BCCI Senior Women T20 Tournament at Greenfield Stadium in Trivandrum, Kerala today.

This was the fifth successive win for Odisha in the National T20 Tournament for Women and they barged into the quarterfinals, emerging Group-B toppers with an all-win record and a total of 20 points.

Sarita Meher, Pragyan Mohanty and Priyanka Priyadarshini palyed major roles in the Odisha win over Tamil Nadu. Sarita and Pragyan hit a half-century each to help Odisha muster a competitive total of 133 for three.

After losing thrtee wickets for 22 runs, Odisha fought back into the match, thanks to an unbroken partnership of 111 runs for the fourth wicket. Sarita top scored with a 51-ball unbeaten 61 (8x4, 1x6), while Pragyan remained unconquered with 59 (51 balls, 7x4, 1x6).

Chasing 134 for win, Tamil Nadu were able to make 131 for eight despite a defiant unbeaten 55 by S Anusha. Priyanka Priyadarshini was most successful bowler for Odisha bagging four wikets for 24 runs.

Earlier at the league stage, Odisha won their first four matches against Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Tripura. Odisha would now move to Surat in Gujarat to play their quarterfinal match on April 30.

SCORECARD:

ODISHA: Madhuri Meheta lbw Niranjana 0, Kajal Jena c Thirushkamini b Ramyashri 8, Sarita Meher not out 61, Sushree Dibyadarshini b Ramyashri 1, Pragyan P Mohanty (wk) not out 59; Extras (w-4) 4
Total (3 wkts; 20 overs) 133
Did Not Bat: Rameswari Naik, Subhra Nirjharini Swain, Sujata Mallik, Rasanara Parwin, Priyanka Priyadarshini, Madhusmita Behera (c).
Fall of Wickets: 1-0 (Madhuri, 0.2 ov), 2-16 (Kajal, 3.5 ov), 3-22 (Sushree Dibyadarshini, 5.1 ov)
Bowling (Overs, Runs, Wkts, Dots): Niranjana Nagarajan 4-24-1-13, K N Ramyashri 4-14-2-17, S B Keerthana 4-22-0-8, S Anusha 1-9-0-3, A Eloksi 3-35-0-7, Arshi Choudhary 3-20-0-5, Nethra L 1-9-0-1.

TAMIL NADU: R Abarna st Pragyan b Rameswari 6, Nethra L st Pragyan b Priyanka 12, M D Thirushkamini (c) c Sushree b Rasanara 31, Niranjana Nagarajan b Priyanka 0, S Anusha not out 55, Arshi Choudhary c Madhuri b Sushree 13, A Eloksi c Subhra b Priyanka 4, M S Shailaja b Priyanka 0, S Pavithra Sridharan (wk) run out (Sarita) 0, S B Keerthana not out 0; Extras (b-3, lb-1, w-6) 10
Total (8 wkts; 20 overs) 131
Did Not Bat: K N Ramyashri
Fall of Wickets: 1-18 (Abarna, 3.5 ov), 2-28 (Nethra, 6.1 ov), 3-28 (Niranjana, 6.3 ov), 4-87 (Thirushkamini, 15.6 ov), 5-110 (Arshi, 17.6 ov), 6-114 (Eloksi, 18.3 ov), 7-121 (Shailaja, 18.6 ov), 8-122 (Sridharan, 19.1 ov)
Bowling (Overs, Runs, Wkts, Dots): Sujata Mallik 2-9-0-10, Rameswari Naik 2-10-1-5, Priyanka Priyadarshini 4-24-4-17, Madhusmita Behera 4-28-0-12, Rasanara Parwin 4-21-1-12, Sushree Dibyadarshini 4-5-1-11.
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PHOTO: Members of Odisha Senior Women Team celebrate after winning their fifth successive match in the Senior Women T20 Tournament in Trivandrum on 24 April 2022.