India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant’s inconsistent form, combined with Delhi’s leading batsmen failing to perform, led to their unbeaten streak being broken by Odisha. Odisha secured a significant 79-run victory in a fourth-round Group D match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Wednesday.
With the national selectors soon to announce the squad for the five-match ODI series against New Zealand in the first week of January, the focus was on the charismatic India keeper-batter and Delhi captain, Pant. However, the fierce cricketer could only manage 24 runs as Delhi’s highly-rated batting lineup collapsed, scoring just 193 in 43.3 overs while chasing a manageable target of 272/8 posted by Odisha after being sent in to bat first.
Throughout the season, Delhi’s
innings have largely depended on one solid batting performance. The absence of such a performance on Wednesday cost them not only the match but also their top position on the points table, which could prove detrimental as the tournament progresses.
Odisha climbed to the top of the table with 12 points and a healthy net run rate (NRR). Although Delhi also had 12 points, they slipped to fourth place, with Railways and Haryana surpassing them due to a better NRR.
This match marked the first time this season that Delhi failed to reach 200 runs. Earlier, Virat Kohli’s century against Andhra in the opener and opener Priyansh Arya’s impressive 78 in the previous game against Saurashtra had made it seem easy.
Following scores of 5, 70, and 22, Pant could only muster 24 off 28 balls before being dismissed by pacer Debabrata Pradhan (3/28). Pradhan, along with young right-arm pacer Sambit Baral (3/34), accelerated Delhi’s downfall.
Odisha’s competitive total was anchored by veteran skipper Biplab Samantray, who scored a 74-ball 72 after the team lost three wickets before reaching the 100-mark.
Odisha’s lower-order batsmen made small but valuable contributions to frustrate the Delhi bowling attack, led by India players Navdeep Saini and Nitish Rana. However, off-spinner Hrithik Shokeen returned excellent figures of 4/27 in his 10 overs.
Delhi’s batters had a terrible start, losing openers Priyansh Arya and Sarthak Ranjan for single-digit scores, leaving the team at 6/2. Pant’s dismissal left Delhi struggling at 50/3 in the 11th over, and the situation quickly deteriorated to 55/5.
A recovery from this point was nearly impossible, but credit goes to Harsh Tyagi (43) and Hrithik Shokeen (32) for their resilient batting, delaying the inevitable.
Meanwhile, Saurashtra defeated Andhra by 74 runs, with right-arm pacer Ankur Panwar claiming five wickets and dismissing the opponents for 180 in their chase of 255.
Vijay Hazare Trophy – Brief Scores:
Odisha 272 for 8 in 50 overs (Biplab Samantray 72; Hrithik Shokeen 4/27, Prince Yadav 2/57) beat Delhi 193 in 42.3 overs (Harsh Tyagi 43; Rajesh Mohanty 2/42, Debabrata Pradhan 3/28, Sambit Baral 3/34) by 79 runs.
Saurashtra 254 for 7 in 50 overs (Harvik Desai 61, Chirag Jani 69, Ruchit Ahir 76; Satyanarayana Raju 3/45, Kalidindi Raju 2/64) beat Andhra 180 in 47.2 overs (Ankur Panwar 5/27) by 74 runs.
Gujarat 283 all out in 47.4 overs (Jaymeet Patel 75; Zubair Ali 2/38, Karn Sharma 2/38, Raj Choudhary 3/57) lost to Railways 287 for 6 in 48 overs (Chintan Gaja 2/35) by 4 wickets.
Services 271 for 8 in 50 overs (Irfan Ali 103 not out, Nakul Sharma 72; Anshul Kamboj 443) lost to Haryana 275 for 3 in 43.1 overs (Ankit Kumar 144 not out, Himanshu Rana 64; Nitin Yadav 2/35).
(With inputs from Agencies)
