Orissa struggle after solid start

Hosts Orissa ended the opening day of their four-day Elite Group Ranji Trophy match at 235 for six after getting a solid start against Rajasthan at VSS Stadium in Sambalpur today. Put into bat by, Orissa laid a solid foundation with captain Shiv Sundar Das and Bikash Swarup Pati compiling 125 runs for the opening wicket. But the fall of three wickets in space five runs hit the home side hard as they were reduced to 130 for three. Aggressive opener Pati, who made 72 (109b, 4x12, 6x2), was first to go, trapped in front of the wicket by Venugopal Rao. Paresh Patel made a mess of his return to the team by getting clean bowled in the same over for a duck. Orissa suffered another setback soon after as Sumit Mathur bowled Subit Biswal for three. Captain Das, however, stood firm at one end, displaying good temperament, technique and patience. But while heading for a century he became the second victim of Mathur. Das made 74 off 127 balls and hit nine boundaries. Niranjan Behera and Haladhar Das steadied the Orissa innings to a goo extent by adding 64 runs for the fifth wicket. But the loss of two quick wickets towards end of the day, send the home team back into a vulnerable position. While Behera departed for 36, new comer Sameer Mohanty failed to open his account. When stumps were drawn for the day, stumper Das batting well on 43 with Debasis Mohanty giving him company on 2. SCOREBOARD Orissa (1st innings): BS Pati lbw Rao 72 SS Das c Saxena b Mathur 74 P Patel b Rao 0 S Biswal b Mathur 3 N Behera c Doru b Yadav 36 H Das (batting) 43 S Mohanty lbw Yadav 0 D Mohanty (batting) 2 Extras (b-1, lb-1, w-2, nb-2) 5 Total (6 wkts, 89.1 overs) 235 Fall of wickets: 1/125, 2/125, 3/130, 4/163, 5/227, 6/227 Bowling: Pankaj Singh 15-3-59-0, Sumit Mathur 21.1-4-52-2, Gajendra Singh 18-5-44-0, Vivek Yadav 19-4-35-2, Venugopal Rao 16-3-43-2