Odisha survives Vidarbha scare; draws Ranji match

Odisha Sun Times Sports Bureau
Nagpur, Oct 4:

Odisha had a narrow escape from a humiliating defeat at the hands of Vidarbha and managed to force a draw in the Ranji Trophy Group A match at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur today.

Vidarbha pocketed three points for their first innings lead against Odisha.

Minnows Odisha were dismissed for 274 in the first innings in reply to Vidarbha’s 467, Govind Poddar playing a lone hand with a century for the visiting team. Following on, Odisha reached 230 for six in the second innings at the end of day four of the match. Anurag Sarangi was the top scorer with 92 and Pratik Das remained unbeaten on 39 when the match was called off.

Vidarbha bowler Akshay Wakhare scalped five wickets.

Team India pacer Umesh Yadav scored his maiden First Class century in the match. Yadav’s unbeaten 128 off 119 balls put his team in the drivers’ seat. However, he failed to strike wickets in either innings.

Brief scores: Vidarbha 467 all out. Odisha 274 all out and 230/6 in 105 overs (Anurag Sarangi 92; Akshay Wakhare 5/77).

Result: Match Drawn. Points: Vidarbha 3, Odisha 1.