OCA U-16 inter-district super league stage: Keonjhar, Sundargarh post wins

Cuttack: The second round of the OCA U-16 Inter-District Cricket Tournament (Super League stage) saw four competitive two-day encounters played across Odisha, with Bhubaneswar-A, Keonjhar, Rest of Odisha-A and Sundargarh emerging winners on first-innings leads.

At Bidanasi Ground, Bhubaneswar-A claimed a strong first-innings lead over Cuttack-A. After being bowled out for 125, Cuttack-A’s batting faltered against Slok S. Nayak, who delivered a match-winning spell of 6 for 14 in 12.4 overs. Bhubaneswar-A replied with 222, powered by Leoneel Meher’s 74 (133) and Mrutyunjay Tripathy’s 64 (89) to secure the advantage. Nayak was named the standout performer for his brilliant bowling effort.

At Nimpur Cricket Ground, Rest of Odisha-A edged out Jharsuguda by 14 runs on first-innings lead in a low-scoring match. Batting first, Rest of Odisha-A managed 95, with Saurabh Yadav (32) and Prachet Singh (24) adding valuable runs. Jharsuguda struggled in reply, bowled out for 81 as Mrutyunjay Biswal starred with an outstanding spell of 5 for 8, earning him the player of the match honour.

At Gatiroutpatna Ground, Keonjhar secured a first-innings win over Puri. Puri posted 143, led by Anshuman Mohanty (38) and Subhankar Swain (34), but Rahuldev S. Naik wreaked havoc with 6 for 18 in 13.4 overs. In reply, Keonjhar reached 194, thanks to fine half-centuries from Ashutosh K. Naik (56) and Jogeswar Mahanta (53). Rahuldev’s fiery spell made him the standout performer.

At Sunshine Cricket Ground, Sundargarh defeated Rest of Odisha-B on first innings. Rest of Odisha-B posted 181, with Anuj K. Yadav (37) and Sideswar Bag (29) contributing. Sundargarh responded with 200, anchored by Soumyaraj Suna’s 77 (130) and Neil N. Mohanty’s 44 (139). Mohanty, who also picked 3 wickets for 54 runs, was declared the standout performer for his all-round display.