Odisha Cricket Team vs Saurashtra Cricket Team Match Scorecard: Odisha opener Swastik Samal made history on Wednesday by becoming the first batter from his state to score a double century in List A cricket. Samal achieved the landmark during Odisha’s Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Saurashtra.
Samal and captain Biplab Samantray powered Odisha to a commanding total of 345 for six after batting first. Samal’s 212 now stands as the fifth-highest individual score in the history of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. It surpassed Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 203 for Mumbai against Jharkhand in 2019.
Odisha’s innings did not begin smoothly. The team lost Om T Munde, Sandeep Pattanaik and Govind Poddar in quick succession. They slipped to 59 for three in the 12th over. Samal then took charge of the innings alongside Samantray.
The pair stitched together a massive 261-run partnership that turned the match firmly in Odisha’s favor. Samantray was eventually dismissed by Ankur Panwar, but the damage had already been done. Riding on the two big knocks, Odisha finished with 345 for six in their allotted 50 overs.
Samal’s knock was a blend of power and control. He struck 21 boundaries and eight sixes. Playing only his 14th List A match, Samal also became the 14th Indian batter to score a double hundred in the format.
The innings was particularly significant for Samal, who had gone unsold at the IPL 2026 auction along with teammate Rajesh Mohanty. His performance served as a strong statement at the domestic level.
Samal has steadily built his career across formats. The 25-year-old made his T20 debut in February 2019 against Mizoram and was dismissed for a duck. He has since scored 362 runs in 13 T20 matches at a strike rate of 160.88, including one century and two half-centuries.
He made his List A debut against Haryana in October 2019 and scored 12 runs. Before Wednesday’s knock, he had accumulated 309 runs from 10 matches with three fifties. In first-class cricket, Samal made his debut in December 2022 and currently has 686 runs from 12 matches, including two centuries and three half-centuries.
Samal’s double hundred added his name to an elite list of Vijay Hazare Trophy batters. The record for the highest individual score in the tournament remains Narayan Jagadeesan’s 277 against Arunachal Pradesh in 2022.
