Vijay Hazare Trophy: Railways beat Odisha by five wickets

Bengaluru: Railways registered a comfortable five-wicket win over Odisha in their Vijay Hazare Trophy match at the Alur Cricket Stadium on Thursday. After winning the toss and opting to field, Railways did well to restrict Odisha to 251 all out in 49.5 overs before chasing down the target with ease, finishing on 254 for 5 in 45.2 overs.

Odisha were powered by brilliant knocks from Soumya Ranjan Lenka and Sambit S Baral. Lenka played a brisk innings of 56 off just 36 balls, striking five fours and four sixes, while Baral anchored the innings with a steady 50 off 65 balls. However, regular wickets at the other end prevented Odisha from building bigger partnerships. For Railways, R K Choudhary and Varun were the standout bowlers, both picking up three wickets each, with Choudhary returning economical figures of 3 for 32 from his 10 overs.

In reply, Railways were guided by a composed and match-winning century from Sahab Yuvraj Singh, who remained unbeaten on 118 off 134 balls, hitting 11 fours and two sixes. He found strong support from Z A Khan, who scored an unbeaten 65 off 43 balls, including five sixes. The pair ensured there were no late hiccups in the chase. For Odisha, Govinda Poddar claimed two wickets for 46 runs, while Debabrata Pradhan picked up one wicket. Railways crossed the target with nearly five overs to spare.