18-Nov-2008 187
A seven-wicket haul by debutant Dhiraj Singh`s helped Orissa take a 11-run first innings lead on the penultimate day of their four-day Elite Group-A Ranji Trophy match against Rajasthan at the VSS Stadium in Sambalpur today.
In reply to host Orissa`s first innings total of 281, Rajasthan failed to counter the guile of the rookie left-arm spinner and were bowled out for 270.
The home side increased the lead to 120 by reaching 109 for three in the second innings at the close of the day. Though the fall of two early wickets, including that of opener Bikash Pati for a duck, caused a few hiccups in the Orissa camp, skipper Shiv Sundar Das steadied the innings, hitting an unbeaten 57 and compiling 63 runs for the third wicket with Subit Biswal (30).
With both the sides struggling to survive in the Elite League and the first innings lead becoming the paramount factor in the ongoing match, Rajasthan seemed to be in an advantageous position when they resumed their first innings at the overnight score of 172 for two.
Former India one-day opener Gagan Khoda brightened the scenario for visitors by completing his 19th first class century. But Dhiraj turned the table on Rajasthan by trapping Khoda for 127 (290b, 4x18).
Wickets fell at regular intervals thereafter as Dhiraj and Paresh Patel (2/42) formed a deadly duo to spin the opposition out dramatically for 270.
Orissa Cricket Association hailed the achievement of Dhiraj by announcing a cash award of Rs 50,000 for the young bowler.
SCOREBOARD
ORISSA (1st innings): 281
RAJASTHAN (1st Innings):
V Saxena lbw Dhiraj 36
G Khoda lbw Dhiraj 127
R Bishnoi c S Mohanty b Dhiraj 5
R Bist lbw Patel 43
V Rao lbw Dhiraj 8
N Doru c S Das b Dhiraj 2
A Meenaria b Dhiraj 11
S Mathur b Dhiraj 8
P Singh (not out) 11
V Yadav (run out) 2
G Singh c S Das b Patel 0
Extras (b-6, lb-8, nb-3) 17
Total (all out, 115.4 overs) 270
Fall of wickets: 1/81, 2/101, 3/212, 4/228, 5/232, 6/247, 7/257, 8/258, 9/270
Bowling: Debasis Mohanty 25-9-49-0, Basant Mohanty 13-3-33-0, Pritamjeet Das 8-2-20-0, Dhiraj Singh 39-10-83-7, Paresh Patel 18.4-6-42-2, Niranjan Behera 6-1-19-0, Sameer Mohanty 6-0-19-0.
ORISSA (2nd innings):
BS Pati c Saxena b Pankaj 0
SS Das (batting) 57
P Patel c Saxena b Rao 14
S Biswal b Pankaj 30
P Das (batting) 1
Extras (b-4, lb-3) 7
Total (3 wkts, 47 overs) 109
Fall of wickets: 1/0, 2/40, 3/103
Bowling: Pankaj Singh 11-3-27-2, Sumit Mathur 10-4-16-0, Vivek Yadav 5-0-11-0, Venugopal Rao 10-1-27-1, Gajendra Singh 6-1-16-0, Ashok Meenaria 5-2-5-0
