Suryakant Jena

Bhubaneswar: Odisha opened its Ranji Trophy 2019-20 campaign with a comprehensive victory in the Elite Group C match against Chhattisgarh at Raipur on Wednesday.

Rajesh Mohanty starred with the ball picking ten wickets in total as Odisha thrashed the hosts by an innings and three runs. Mohanty was adjudged Man of the Match.

Putting Chhattisgarh to bat first, Odisha bowlers managed to restrict the hosts to a paltry 134 runs in the first innings. Rajesh Mohanty was the pick of the bowlers for Odisha with his magnificent performance in sending more than half of the Chhattisgarh batsmen to pavillion.

Even though the visitors went through a scary first session losing back to back wickets, thanks to a good 56 from
Sujit Lenka and good contribution from the lower order, Odisha managed to put up a fighting total of 215 in the pitch that suited fast bowlers at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Raipur.

However, in the second innings, the visitors displayed a lethal show breaking the backbone of the Chhattisgarh team like a deck of cards. Both Rajesh Mohanty and Suryakant Pradhan picked 4 wickets each in quick succession.
With the win, Odisha has secured full 7 points with bonus and is currently topping the group.

It will welcome the strong Services side to play its first home game of the season at DRIEMS Ground, Cuttack on December 17.

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