Odisha spinners Sumit Sharma and Govind Poddar pocketed nine and six wickets respectively in the match and guided the team to defeat Maharashtra by three wickets in the Round-5 Ranji Trophy Elite-A group match at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack on Friday.
After conceding two back-to-back humiliating defeats in the season, Odisha scripted a convincing win at home on the third day of the match and gathered three points, with a total of 10 points placed in the sixth place after five matches, while Maharashtra placed at seventh with eight points.
In reply to Maharashtra’s first innings score of 162 runs, Odisha was bowled out for 200 runs and registered a 38 runs lead. The highlight of the innings was, the 24-year-old Odisha’s opener Swastik Samal (118) scored his maiden century, while Sumit and Govinda bagged four and three wickets in the first innings.
A five-wicket haul by Sumit Sharma and four wickets by Govinda Poddar restricted Maharashtra's second innings for 166 runs. Chasing a small target of 128 runs for victory, Odisha lost wickets in regular intervals, however Govinda Poddar (48) and Sandeep Patnaik (36) guided the team to reach the winning target for the loss of seven wickets.
Brief Score: Maharashtra 1st innings 162/10 in 54 overs (Ramakrushna Ghosh 80, Ankit Bawne 34; Sumit Sharma 4/39, Govinda Poddar 3/10) and 166/10 in 53.4 overs (Sachin Dhas 38; Ramakrushna Ghose 39; Sumit Sharma 5/46, Govinda Poddar 3/32, Tarani Sa 2/48) lost to Odisha 200/10 in 82.2 overs (Swastik Samal 118, Sandeep Patnaik 41; Rajneesh Gurbani 3/38, Ramakrishna Ghose 3/50) and 130/7 in 36.2 overs (Govinda Poddar 48; Prashant Solanki 3/12) by 3 wickets.
