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Calcutta: Inexperience ruined Tripura’s day as Odisha had the last laugh in the Vijay Hazare Trophy East Zone contest, on Monday.
Odisha’s four-wicket victory, with 31 balls to spare, was hard-earned. Tripura gave everything they had to defend their paltry 165, but their inexperienced bowling attack failed to tighten the screws when it was most needed.
As a result, Tripura lost their third match on the trot, while Odisha finally opened their account to keep alive their hopes of moving to the knock-out round.
Assam still lead the table with 10 points from two matches, followed by Bengal’s eight from as many games.
For Odisha, the sixth wicket partnership between Laganjit Samal (33) and Rakesh Mohanty (42 not out) turned out to be a match-winning one. Earlier, Rakesh earned two wickets with his off-breaks and it was only fitting that his sixer gave Odisha the winning runs.
In the morning, Odisha pacers extracted the maximum out of a lively pitch and overcast conditions. The Tripura batsmen were no match for their accuracy.
Brief scores
Tripura 165 in 45.4 ovs (M. Murasingh 32; B. Samantray 2/23, R. Mohanty 2/23). Odisha 167/6 in 44.5 ovs (R. Mohanty 42n..). Odisha won by 4 wkts
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