Skipper Nataraj Behera’s explosive unbeaten 115 off 69 balls went in vain, as Baitarani failed to counter the Chilika challenge in OPL final. Chilika beat Baitarani by 4 wickets to win the Odisha Premier League 2 tournament, which failed to generate any curiosity among the fans.
In the final, Baitarani posted 168/4 in 20 overs, thanks to a 149-run partnership between Nataraj and Priyatosh Parmanik (22) after the team slumped to 19/3. For Chilika, Deepak Behera and Suryakant Pradhan took two wickets each.
Chasing a victory target of 169, Chilika reached 171/6 in 19.3 overs. Rakesh Gochhayat remained unbeaten on 47. Arabind Singh scored 41. Santosh Sethi contributed 24. For Baitarani, Sukant Das and Rupak Jena took two wickets each.
Rakesh Gochhayat was declared ‘Man of the Match’, while Nataraj Behera was declared ‘Player of the Tournament’ for scoring 274 runs and taking 3 wickets in addition to that. The Champion team got Rs 3 lakh, while the runners-up team received Rs 2 lakh. Nataraj Behera got Rs 25,000.
Odisha DGP Prakash Mishra was the Chief Guest at the final. OCA President Ranjib Biswal and Secretary Ashirbad Behera were also present to grace the occasion.