19-Nov-2008 85
The four-day Elite Group-A Ranji Trophy match between hosts Orissa and Rajasthan ended in a draw on the final day at VSS Stadium in Sambalpur today.
But Orissa gained three points by virtue of taking an 11-run first innings lead, while Rajasthan had to be contended with one point.
Resuming at the overnight score of 109 for three, the home side folded up for 209 in the second innings before setting a target of 221 for the visitors to win the match.
But after the cheap dismissal of the two openers, Rajasthan batted with caution to finish at 131 for four.
The three points increased Orissa`s tally to four from three matches. They will next meet Punjab at the Railway Stadium in Bhubaneswar from November 23 to 26.
For Rajasthan, it was their first point after two successive defeats. They next play Hyderabad at Hyderabad (Nov 23-26).
Orissa skipper Shiv Sundar Das was the top scorer in the second innings, making 61. Niranjan Behera also scored a half-century, while useful contributions came off the bats of Subit Biswal (30) and Haladhar Das (29). Vivek Yadav was the most successful bowler for Rajasthan with figures of four wickets for 38 runs.
Orissa`s all-out effort to win the match was foiled in the second innings by Robin Bist, who hit an unbeaten 60.
The match may possible be remembered for Orissa spinner Dhiraj Singh`s seven-wicket haul on debut and experienced Rajasthan batsman Gagan Khoda`s 19th first class century (127).
SCOREBOARD
ORISSA (1st inings): 281
RAJASTHAN (1st innings): 270
ORISSA (2nd innings)
BS Pati c Saxena b Pankaj 0
SS Das c Doru b Mathur 61
P Patel c Saxena b Rao 14
S Biswal b Pankaj 30
P Das lbw Yadav 5
N Behera ibw Yadav 54
H Das c Pankaj b Gajendra 29
S Mohanty c sub b Yadav 6
D Mohanty c Rao b Yadav 0
B Mohanty (not out) 1
D Singh lbw Gajendra 0
Extras (b-4, lb-4, nb-1) 9
Total (all out, 73.4 overs) 209
Fall of wickets: 1/0, 2/40, 3/103, 4/113, 5/123, 6/189, 7/197, 8/197, 9/208, 10/209
Bowling: Pankaj Singh 18-4-44-2, Sumit Mathur 16-4-32-1, Vivek Yadav 11-1-38-4, Venugopal Rao 13-1-46-1, Gajendra Singh 10.4-1-36-2, Ashok Meenaria 5-2-5-0
RAJASTHAN (2nd innings):
V Saxena lbw D Mohanty 1
N Doru lbw B Mohanty 2
V Rao c H Das b P Das 40
R Bist (not out) 60
A Meenaria c Pati b Dhiraj 5
R Bishnoi (not out) 15
Extras (b-1, lb-1, w-1, nb-5) 8
Total (4 wkts, 59.0 overs) 131Fall of wickets: 1/4, 2/6, 3/74, 4/87
Bowling: Debasis Mohanty 7-1-9-1, Basant Mohanty 7-1-13-1, Pritamjeet Das 10-2-20-1, Dhiraj Singh 16-3-46-1, Paresh Patel 11-5-20-0, Niranjan Behera 3-1-6-0, Sameer Mohanty 5-0-15-0
