Orissa beat Tripura in clash of lesser teams

Skipper Rashmi Ranjan Parida powered Orissa to a 43 run win over minnows Tripura in the Ranji One-Dayers. After winning the toss at Eden Gardens, Calcutta, the Orissa skipper decided to bat first and this proved to be a good decision at the end of the day. Opening batsman Pradeep Das made a good half century at the top of the order. With a valuable 39 from Sanjay Raul at number four, the Orissa team managed a convincing 254 off their allotted 50 overs.

Responding to the target set by Orissa, the Tripura team could not come up with a impressive response. Although no single bowler dominated for the Orissa team the Tripura side lost wickets at regular intervals. S Chowdhuri (64) and stumper Rajib Dutta (54) made solid contributions in the middle order but this was not matched by the rest of the batsmen. Three run outs made life difficult for the Tripura team. By the time Tripura had reached 211, 43 runs short of their target, they had run out of overs.

Although the match was a clash between two minor teams in the East Zone, Orissa can take heart from the fact that they have opened their campaign with a win, and two points.