Vijay Merchant Trophy: Chhattisgarh beat Odisha by nine wickets
Morena: Chhattisgarh Under-16 registered a convincing nine-wicket victory over Odisha in their Vijay Merchant Trophy (U16) multi-day fixture at the MPCA Ground, here, after a dominant all-round performance spread across three days.
Odisha were put in to bat and their first innings never really gained momentum as they were bowled out for 139 in 57.1 overs. Ashutosh Kumar Naik top-scored with a patient 38 off 101 balls, while Om Prakash Das added 24. Chhattisgarh bowlers shared the spoils, with Arshveer Singh Bhatia leading the attack by claiming 4 for 31 from 18 overs, while Arham Anhar picked up two wickets.
In reply, Chhattisgarh reached 81 for 4 by stumps on Day 1. Anshuman Thakur scored 30, while Aditya Byadwal contributed 23. For Odisha, Mrutyunjay Das bowled a tight spell, finishing with 2 for 20, as Chhattisgarh ended the day trailing Odisha by 58 runs.
Chhattisgarh continued their first innings on Day 2 and went on to post a strong total of 248 all out, gaining a significant lead. Arshveer Singh Bhatia once again impressed with the bat, scoring 47 off 93 balls, while Prateek Gandharv added a fluent 43. Odisha bowlers fought back, with Mrutyunjay Das and Himnish Sahu picking up three wickets each.
Facing a sizeable deficit, Odisha struggled in their second innings. Ashutosh Kumar Naik was the lone bright spot, scoring 52 off 57 balls, while Neil Nitin Mohanty made 17. Aditya Byadwal starred with the ball for Chhattisgarh, returning figures of 2 for 8 from 13 overs, and Arshveer Singh Bhatia supported well with 2 for 38. At stumps on Day 2, Odisha reached 103 for 5 and were trailing by six runs.
Chhattisgarh were left with a small target to chase in the second innings and wasted little time in sealing the win. They reached 61 for 1 in just 13.1 overs to complete the formalities. Earlier, at the start of Day 3, Odisha were bowled out for 169. Anshuman Thakur scored 25 off 24 balls, while Tusiya Prajapati remained unbeaten on 20 off 41 deliveries. Partha Sarathi Lenka picked up the lone wicket for Odisha, conceding 14 runs in 2.1 overs.
