A budding cricketer died in a suburban area of Kendrapara district while he was bowling the last ball of the over during a limited over (10 over) match. The incident took place at Pattamundai in Kendrapara district, about 140km from here on Sunday.

The young bowler, Kanhu Charan Parida (19), was popularly known as Super Express for his bowling. He was playing for Taradipal in the final against Phulapatna team.

Taradipal team opted to bowl first. As the evening descended, it was decided that the match would be a four-over affair. Parida was asked to bowl the last over by his team captain.

“He bowled five balls of the over smoothly. After he delivered the last ball of his over, suddenly he fell down on the crease and became unconscious. The other players immediately rushed him to the local hospital where he was declared dead,” said local journalist Chitta.

The Taradipal team had scored only 16 runs in four overs. In his solo over, Parida had taken three wickets and conceded only two runs.

Ashok Padihari (60), Kanhu’s distant relative and neighbour, told The Telegraph, “Kanhu, a Plus Three second year science student, was the only son of his parents. All the villagers broke down following his death. As he died in front of all, we did not go for post-mortem.”