The match between Western Samurai (Rourkela) and Berhampur Bhanja Veers in progress at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Bhubaneswar, June 5: JSP Sparks (Jagatsinghpur) set a target of 126 runs for Angul Tuskers at the Railway Stadium here today. Subhit Biswal top-scored with 45 runs and Rashmi Ranjan Das made 21. The Tuskers scalped a total of five wickets with Jalil Khan emerging as the highest wicket ticket with two wickets. Captain, Debasish Mohanty and Sukant Das took one wicket each. As per latest updates, the Angul Tuskers had scored 25 runs for no loss in three overs.

Western Samurai (Rourkela) played its “replay” match against Berhampur Bhanja Veers at the Barabati Stadium, Cuttack, today. Batting first, the Samurais posted a total of 159 runs by losing three wickets. Nataraj Behera was the highest scorer with 95 runs. For Berhmapur, Aloke Sahu took two wickets and Lagnajit Samal claimed one. Till reports last came in, the Bhanja Veers were 15 for one at the end of two overs.

Yesterday, two out of three matches were washed out as heavy rains lashed different parts of the state. The OPL match between Western Samurai (Rourkela) and Puri Emperors at the Railway Stadium here was called off without a single ball being bowled. The match was officially cancelled at 9:30 pm. Both teams shared one point each.

While the Jaguars (with four losses, one win and two no-result games) are already out of the race for a berth in the semi-finals, the rain gods spoiled their prospects of “saving their face” yesterday.

Their match against Kashvi Power Rangers (Keonjhar) at Kadam Padia, Angul was delayed by over two hours due to heavy rain. The number of overs-a-side were reduced to 14 and the duration of “strategic time-outs” and other breaks were also cut down. However, the match had to be abandoned midway due to a downpour, with both teams sharing one point each. By that time, the Jaguars who elected to bat first had made 67 runs in 10 overs and lost five wickets.

Earlier too, on May 26, their encounter with Balasore Baghas had been washed out. Now, the Jaguars would play their last league match against the Baghas on June 6.

In the only match that could be played yesterday, Katak Barabati Tigers beat Cooperative Kings Dhenkanal by five wickets. The Dhenkanal team had put up 109 runs on board, with Haldhar Das scoring a half-century. In reply, the Barabati Tigers achieved the total comfortably 17.1 overs.

The points table, as updated after Saturday’s matches, stands like this: JSP Sparks (Jagatsinghpur) is leading Group A with eight points and a net run rate (NRR) of +1.53, followed by Rourkela and Puri (each five points). Angul has four points while Berhampur, with two points, is at the lowest position of the table. Cuttack is leading Group B with 12 points and NRR of 0. 92. Balasore has earned seven points, Dhenkanal has six points and Bhubaneswar, four points. The Keonjhar team is reeling at the bottom of the table with two points.