Odisha Senior Men Cricket team ended their Ranji Trophy campaign on a disastrous note, losing to Delhi by seven wickets at Jamia Milia Cricket Ground in Delhi today. This was the fourth defeat in seven matches for Odisha, who finished seventh in the eight-team Elite Group-D with 12 points.

The defeat against Delhi proved to be bitter pill for Odisha as they could not defend themselves despite compiling an imposing first-innings total of 440, which was studded with a century each by Subhranshu Senapati and Biplab Samantray, and a half-century by captain Shantanu Mishra.

Lack-lustre bowling by the Odisha team helped Delhi take a slender first-inning lead of 11 runs with two of their batters hitting a hundred each and two others slamming a fifty apiece. The match took a dramatic turn on the fourth and last day as Odisha were dismissed for 133 in their second innings. Chasing a target of 123, Delhi won the match, losing three wickets in the process.

Debutant Sumit Mathur was the chief architect of the Delhi win, bagging five wickets in the second innings and nine in the match. He was awarded as the Player of the Match. Left-arm spinner Jamala Bhanjan Mohapatra made a notable first-class debut for Odisha, taking five wickets in the match and scoring 25 runs in the second innings.

Despite roping in former India allrounder Dinesh Mongia as their chief coach, Odisha failed miserably in the Ranji Trophy Championship this season. No wonder that Odisha cricketers are not getting opportunities to play for the National or IPL teams!

SCORECARD

ODISHA (1st innings): Swastik Samal c Rawat b Vijayran 38, Shantanu Mishra (c) c Himmat Singh b Vijayran 76, Sandeep Pattnaik c Rawat b Mathur 12, Subhranshu Senapati b Vijayran 111, Govinda Poddar b Sumit Mathur 27, Biplab Samantray c Sharma b Himmat Singh 110, Aasirwad Swain (wk) c Himmat Singh b Mathur 46, Rajesh Mohanty b Himmat Singh 6, Jamala Bhanjan Mohapatra b Himmat Singh 0, Harshit Rathod b Mathur 0, Sunil Roul not out 0; Extras (b 13, nb 1) 14
Total (All out, 129.2 overs) 440
Fall of wickets: 1-58 (Samal, 12.4 ov), 2-85 (Pattnaik, 21.2 ov), 3-165 (Mishra, 42.5 ov), 4-233 (Poddar, 60.6 ov), 5-319 (Senapati, 90.2 ov), 6-430 (Swain, 123.3 ov), 7-437 (Mohanty, 126.4 ov), 8-437 (Mohapatra, 126.5 ov), 9-440 (Samantray, 128.3 ov), 10-440 (Rathod, 129.2 ov)
Bowling: Pranshu Vijayran 25-5-74-3, Himanshu Chauhan 20-1-85-0, Sumit Mathur 45.2-9-97-4, Prince Choudhary 19-0-108-0, Ayush Badoni 3-0-11-0, Himmat Singh 16-1-42-3, Jonty Sidhu 1-0-10-0.

DELHI (1st innings): Anuj Rawat (wk) b Roul 40, Gagan Vats run out (Roul) 66, Yash Dhull c Swain b Roul 112, Ayush Badoni c Poddar b Samantray 22, Himmat Singh (c) lbw b Samantray 6, Jonty Sidhu not out 105, Kshitiz Sharma b Mohapatra 64, Sumit Mathur b Poddar 3, Pranshu Vijayran lbw b Poddar 8, Prince Choudhary c Samal b Mohapatra 1, Himanshu Chauhan b Mohapatra 6; Extras (b 12, lb 3, nb 3) 18
Total (All out, 130.3 overs) 451
Fall of wickets: 1-67 (Rawat, 16.1 ov), 2-144 (Vats, 38.2 ov), 3-217 (Badoni, 54.5 ov), 4-235 (Himmat Singh, 62.5 ov), 5-266 (Dhull, 70.4 ov), 6-413 (Sharma, 116.1 ov), 7-420 (Mathur, 119.1 ov), 8-430 (Vijayran, 121.5 ov), 9-439 (Choudhary, 126.6 ov), 10-451 (Chauhan, 130.3 ov)
Bowling: Rajesh Mohanty 20-4-74-0, Govinda Poddar 21-3-66-2, Sunil Roul 23-0-116-2, Harshit Rathod 27-5-69-0, Biplab Samantray 14-3-34-2, JB Mohapatra 21.3-1-63-3, Shantanu Mishra 4-0-14-0.

ODISHA (2nd innings): S Samal b Vijayran 0, S Mishra lbw b Chauhan 0, S Pattnaik c Rawat b Vijayran 0, S Senapati b Chauhan 4, G Poddar b Mathur 17, B Samantray c Rawat b Mathur 24, A Swain lbw b Mathur 29, R Mohanty b Himmat Singh 10, JB Mohapatra lbw b Mathur 25, H Rathod b Mathur 1, S Roul not out 15; Extras (b 4, lb 3, nb 1) 8
Total (All out, 46 overs) 133
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Samal, 0.2 ov), 2-0 (Mishra, 1.4 ov), 3-0 (Pattnaik, 2.4 ov), 4-4 (Senapati, 3.5 ov), 5-42 (Poddar, 14.5 ov), 6-63 (Samantray, 20.5 ov), 7-78 (Mohanty, 23.6 ov), 8-88 (Swain, 28.3 ov), 9-90 (Rathod, 30.1 ov), 10-133 (Mohapatra, 45.6 ov)
Bowling: P Vijayran 11-2-39-2, H Chauhan 6-1-22-2, S Mathur 17-11-26-5, Himmat Singh 8-0-33-1, P Choudhary 4-2-6-0.

DELHI (2nd innings): A Rawat b Mohanty 7, G Vats c & b Mohapatra 24, Himmat Singh lbw b Mohapatra 32, A Badoni not out 40, Y Dhull not out 16; Extras (b 4) 4
Total (3 wickets, 20.3 overs) 123
Did not bat: Kshitiz Sharma, Pranshu Vijayran, Prince Choudhary, Himanshu Chauhan, Sumit Mathur, Jonty Sidhu
Fall of wickets: 1-8 (Rawat, 0.6 ov), 2-65 (Himmat Singh, 11.6 ov), 3-90 (Vats, 15.6 ov)
Bowling: R Mohanty 4-0-24-1, G Poddar 1-0-9-0, S Roul 2.3-0-12-0, JB Mohapatra 7-0-45-2, B Samantray 3-0-10-0, H Rathod 3-0-19-0.   
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PHOTO: Odisha debutant Jamala Bhanjan Mohapatra poses during their Ranji Trophy match against Delhi at Jamia Milia Ground in Delhi on 18 February 2024.