Patel century puts Gujarat in command

Parthiv Patel`s an unbeaten century helped Gujarat take a 48-run lead against hosts Orissa on the second day of their four-day Elite Group-A Ranji match at the East Coast Railway ground in Bhubaneswar today. In reply to Orissa`s modest first innings total of 162, the visitors finished the day on a happy note, making 210 for three with Patel going strong on 127 (280b, 4x9) and Bhavik Thakar giving him company on four. This was Patel`s ninth first class century in 99 matches and helped Gujarat overcome a shaky start. Resuming at the overnight score of five for no loss, the visitors lost two wickets in space of four runs as opener Rajesh Tabiar was run out by Orissa skipper P ayachandra for one and Niraj Patel was trapped lbw by Debasis Mohanty for three. But former India stumper Patel stemmed the rot, stitching together 164 runs for the third wicket with Priyank Panchal, who scored a laborious half-century (59 off 205 balls) before being caught behind by Haladhar Das off the bowling of left-arm spinner Paresh Patel. Orissa, in fact, let Gujarat off the hook by committing a couple of fielding mistakes. Patel was dropped in the second slip by Rashmi Ranjan Das off the bowling of debutant Bibhudutta Panda when the batsman was on 10. After completing his century, the Gujarat skipper survived another hiccup when Paresh Patel failed to hold on to a return catch off his own bowling. But as the adage goes, fortune favoured the brave and Patel capitalised on the missed chances to raise hopes of another victory, their fourth in the group `A` league. Slow pitch and slower outfield has made batting a painstaking job for both the sides in the onging match. But at the same time, it has also proved to be a litmus test quality batting. The result of the test is evident from the totals compiled by the two teams. And it is application or lack of it, which has defined the difference between Orissa and Gujarat. Brief scores: Orissa 162 all out in 86 overs vs Gujarat 210 for 3 in 92 overs (Parthiv Patel 127 batting, Priyank Panchal 59: Debasis Mohanty 1/23, Paresh Patel 1/37).