Bhubaneswar: On the last day of the year 2025, team Odisha produced a combined performance to defeat strong Delhi by 79 runs in their Elite Group D Vijay Hazare Trophy clash at the KSCA Cricket Ground, Alur on Wednesday.
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.
Being invited to bat first, Odisha skipper Biplab Samantray 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. Odisha gathered 272/8 in 50 overs.
In reply, Delhi struggled from the outset, lost wickets in regular intervals and never gained the momentum. The visitors Odisha bowled out Delhi for 193 in 42.3 overs, handing Odisha a convincing victory.
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.
Brief Score: Odisha 272/8 50 overs (Biplab Samantray 72; Hrithik Shokeen 4/27, Prince Yadav 2/57) beat Delhi 193/10 in 42.3 overs (Harsh Tyagi 43; Rajesh Mohanty 2/42, Debabrata Pradhan 3/28, Sambit Baral 3/34) by 79 runs.
Odisha: Swastik Samal, Om T Munde, Sandeep Pattnaik, Govinda Poddar, Aasirwad Swain(w), Biplab Samantray(c), Sambit S Baral, Rajesh Mohanty, Prayash Singh, Debabrata Pradhan, Badal Biswal
Delhi: Priyansh Arya, Ayush Doseja, Nitish Rana, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Sarthak Ranjan, Tejasvi Dahiya, Harsh Tyagi, Navdeep Saini, Prince Yadav, Hrithik Shokeen, Divij Mehra.
