Bhubaneswar: It was Swastik Samal’s most memorable day in his cricketing career as he scored his maiden double century at the senior level for Odisha in first-class or List A cricket.
However, Samal’s brilliant 212 was not enough for his team as Saurashtra chased down a target 346 with seven balls to spare in the Vijay Hazare Trophy clash at KSCA ground in Alur, Karnataka on Wednesday.
Asked to bat first, Odisha were reduced to 59/3 in 12 overs before opener Samal and skipper Samantray took control. Samal smashed 21 fours and 8 sixes in his 169-ball knock, while Samantray raced to 100 off 91 balls with the help of 7 fours and 3 sixes.
They added a record 261 runs for the fourth wicket before the partnership was broken in the 47th over.
Samal forced his name into the record books, becoming the first Odisha batter to hit a double hundred in List A cricket. His 212 was the fifth-highest score in the history of Vijay Hazare Trophy, surpassing Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 203 for Mumbai in 2019.
Defending a big score, Odisha made two early breakthroughs as Debabrata Pradhan struck in his second and fourth over to reduce Saurashtra to 28/2. Odisha were on top even when Saurashtra were 148/4 after 28 overs.
But then Samar Gajjar (132* off 113 balls) and Chirag Jani (86 off 55 balls) took the game away from Odisha with a 146-run collaboration in just over 16 overs.
Odisha used as many as eight bowlers, but they failed to stop the free flow of runs as Saurashtra reached 347/5.
BRIEF SCORES
Odisha 345/6 in 50 overs (Swastik Samal 212, Biplab Samantray 100; Ankur Panwar 3/68).
Saurashtra 347/5 in 48.5 overs (Samar Gajjar 132, Chirag Jani 86; Debabrata Pradhan 3/73).
Result: Saurashtra beat Odisha by 5 wickets.
Player of the Match: Swastik Samal.
Next match: Odisha vs Services on Dec 26 at Alur.
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