Opener Prashant Gupta hit a quickfire fifty before spinners turned on the heat to help Uttar Pradesh outplay Odisha by 32 runs in the Group D Twenty20 cricket match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy here today.
Put into bat at the Barabati Stadium, UP rode on a 84-run second wicket partnership between Gupta (53) and captain Eklavya Dwivedi (47) to post a challenging 150 for five in 20 overs.
UP spinners, Amit Mishra, Kuldeep Yadav and Piyush Chawla, then shared two wickets apiece to help UP restrict Odisha to 118 for eight.
Pace spearhead Praveen Kumar, who shared a wicket with new-ball partner Ankit Rajpoot, gave UP their first breakthrough and the spinners soon spun into action.
Roshan Kumar Rao top-scored with a gutsy 31 not out, while skipper Govinda Poddar hit 22 runs as rest of the batting disappointed.
Brief Scores:
Uttar Pradesh 150/5 in 20 overs (Prashant Gupta 53, Eklavya Dwivedi 47; Alok Chandra Sahoo 2-23, Biplab Samantray 2-17)
Odisha 118/8 in 20 overs (Roshan Kumar Rao 31 not out, Govinda Poddar 22; Amit Mishra 2-32, Kuldeep Yadav 2-24, Piyush Chawla 2-18)
Points: Uttar Pradesh 4, Odisha 0.
