Ranji Trophy: Poddar's all-round show leads Odisha to victory

Govinda Poddar led from the front with an all-round performance as Odisha tasted their first win of the Ranji Trophy season – after consecutive innings defeats – in Cuttack on Friday.
Restricting Maharashtra to 166 from 53.4 overs early on Day 3, the hosts survived their perennial problem of losing wickets at regular intervals, before finally achieving the target of 129 runs. They scored 130/7 from 36.2 overs to beat Maharashtra by three wickets.
Skipper Poddar followed up on his fine show with the ball, where he returned 3/42 bowling off-spin, with a match-winning 48 off 51 balls at brisk pace to guide his team to victory.
Sandeep Pattnaik (36 off 47) played a crucial knock in the chase, too, at No. 3.
However, Odisha batters made heavy weather of a small target at home ground Barabati Stadium. Poddar almost saw them home but lost his stumps to Prashant Solanki's leg-spin with the home side only five runs away from the target and the score reading 124/5.
Odisha then lost two more wickets to slump to 127/7 with Solanki's late burst but ultimately won the match with Sumit Sharma hitting a four in his 5-ball stay.
Earlier, left-arm spinner Sharma had wreaked havoc to return 5/46 in Maharashtra's second essay to complete the match with impressive figures of 9/85.
However, it was Poddar's consistent show throughout the encounter, including a 6/52 match haul, that won him the Man of the Match award in the fifth-round game of Elite Group A.
The six points from the game swelled Odisha's tally to 10 points as they moved a spot up to the sixth now after five matches. Maharashtra remained seventh with eight points.
Brief Scores (In Cuttack): Maharashtra 162 & (o/n 78/3) 166 all out in 53.4 overs (RS Ghosh 39; Sumit Sharma 5/46, Govinda Poddar 3/42). Odisha 200 & 130/7 in 36.2 overs (Govinda Poddar 48Sandeep Pattnaik 36; Prashant Solanki 3/12). Odisha won by three wickets.
Points: Odisha 6 Maharashtra 0.