In another Group B encounter, Mizoram rode on Lalhungchhunga’s solitary strike to edge out Manipur 1-0 at the M Visvesvaraya stadium.
Orissa, whose only title win came when they shared the trophy with Kerala in 1969, made a postive start when Marandi headed home Pandu Singh’s pass from the right for the opener.
Inaugural champions and 17-time winners West Bengal’s efforts to make a comeback went up in smoke when Soren sealed an emphatic victory for Orissa in the 71st minute.
In the other match, after almost an hour and a quarter of fruitless action, Lalhungchhunga headed in Lallawmkima’s free-kick in the 75th minute to give Mizoram a narrow victory.
Hosts Karnataka, who lost their opening Group A tie 1-3 against Punjab on Thursday, take on defending champions Jharkhand in a must-win game on Saturday, while Punjab clash with Tamil Nadu.
Results: Group B: Orissa: 2 (Simal Marandi 25th, Sudam Soren 71st) bt West Bengal: 0. Mizoram: 1 (Lalhungchhunga 75th) bt Manipur: 0.
Published 01 January 2010, 16:37 IST