Kashvi Power Ranger from Keonjhar and Bhubaneswar Jaguar at an OPL match in capital on Monday. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, May 23: Bhubaneswar Jaguars suffered a humiliating five-wicket defeat at the hands of Kashvi Power Rangers (Keonjhar) at the Railway Stadium here today. Chasing a modest target of 126, the Keonjhar team coasted to win with three balls to spare.

After winning the toss, captain of the Bhubaneswar Jaguars team, Paresh Patel elected to bat first. The Jaguars got off to a dismal start with the first wicket falling in the form of opener Tanmay Mohanty (4) when he was caught out off a delivery from pacer, Hiteswar Tiwari. Bikash Pati (25) and Anurag Sarangi (18) steadied the innings until the former was dismissed leg before wicket by Manoj Barik. The next few wickets fell in quick succession but skipper Patel, continuing with his fantastic form, got to his half-century in style. The pitch was rather slow but he smashed 54 runs off 46 balls, which included four boundaries and two huge sixes, one of which went out of the ground.

Although Patel had scored 59 runs in the opening match against Katak Barabati Tigers, it was not enough to prevent a loss. Bhubaneswar Jaguars lost by 11 runs after the Cuttack team posted a mammoth total of 172 runs on board. Patel’s guarding innings today came to an end with Kashvi Power Rangers’ captain, P.R. Sinha claiming his wicket as the Jaguars slumped to 105 for 6. Following his dismissal, the Jaguars lost their momentum and the other batsmen could not last long at the crease. The entire innings was wrapped up for 126 runs with two balls to spare. Jayant Behera remained not out at three runs while both Mrunmaya Das and Sukant Hathi were dismissed for a duck.

For Kashvi Power Rangers, P.R. Sinha and Santish Jena took two wickets each. Hiteswar Tiwari, Manoj Barik, Partha Samal, C.S. Kanungo each took one wicket. The other two wickets fell to brilliant run outs.

Nearly 12,000 spectators had turned up for the match today. The Orissa Cricket Association (OCA) has decided to allow free entry for the entire tournament. The performance of the cheergirls kept the crowd alive and entertained throughout the match. However, the newly appointed chief coach for the Orissa Ranji team, Michael Bevan, stole the show though he stayed at the stadium for a very short time. “It was a very interesting match. I got the chance to see Bevan,” said a spectator.