Seamer Sunil Roul’s six-wicket haul helped Odisha pull off a seven-wicket win over Bengal on the fourth day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group A encounter here on Friday. Although the Bengal team has already confirmed the quarter-final ticket before this match, but this defeat will shock its morale before the knockout stage. Apart from Bengal, the Uttarakhand team also managed to reach the quarter-finals from this group.
Bengal topped the table with 32 points while Uttarakhand got three points after drawing their match against Haryana. He finished second on the table with 29 points. Bengal will face Jharkhand in the quarter-finals, while Uttarakhand will take on Karnataka on January 31. The 24-year-old Roul took six for 96 in Bengal’s second innings as the entire team was bowled out for 276 in 79 overs.
After this, Odisha achieved the target of 112 runs needed to win in the 23rd over by losing three wickets. The major reason for the defeat of Bengal was the dismissal of the team for 100 runs in the first innings. After being followed on, Bengal opener Abhimanyu Easwaran (101) scored a century in the second innings but the team lost the last five wickets in 37 runs. Bengal started the day at 220 for three but Easwaran could only add seven runs to his previous night’s score of 94.
Captain Manoj Tiwary managed to add just two runs to his 50 on Thursday. After their 112-run partnership for the fourth wicket was broken, Roul continued to take wickets at regular intervals. After Easwaran, he dismissed wicket-keeper Abhishek Porel (38), Pritam Chakraborty (1) and Geet Puri (0). Chasing the target, Anurat Sarangi scored 37 runs for Odisha. Sandeep Patnaik remained unbeaten on 28 runs.
