Rakesh knock in vain as Orissa lose by 159 runs

All-rounder Rakesh Mohanty provided some solace with an unbeaten 71 as Orissa lost to Gujarat by 159 runs on the last day of their four-day Ranji Trophy Super League (Group-A) match at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad today. Chasing a stiff target of 380 runs and resuming at the overnight score of 10 for one, Orissa put up tough fight before folding up for 220 in the last hour of the match. The thumping victory fetched Gujarat five points, while Orissa drew blank. The top order collapsed as Orissa were reduced to six wickets for 68 runs. Rakesh Mohanty and wicket-keeper Subhrajit Sahoo delayed the defeat by stitching together 85 runs for the seventh wicket. During his defiant unbeaten knock of 71, Mohanty faced 143 balls and his 13 boundaries. Debutant Sahoo made 39 (75 balls) with the help of two fours and two sixes. Three other Orissa batsmen could reach the double figures and Pravanjan Mullick was the leading contributor among them with an 83-ball 40. M Patel and Salil Yadav played instrumental roles in the Gujarat win, bagging three wickets each in the second innings. SCOREBOARD GUJARAT (1st innings): 270 ORISSA (1st innings): 192 GUJARAT (2nd innings): 301/6 decl ORISSA (2nd innings): Bikash Pati lbw b M Patel 6, Shiv Sundar Das b M Patel 11, Niranjan Behera ct P Patel b Trivedi 1, Paresh Patel ct P Patel b Bhatt 9, Parvanjan Mullick ct J Desai b M Patel 40, Subit Biswal ct P Patel b T Patel 6, Subhrajit Sahoo ct Joshipura b Bhatt 39, Rakesh Mohanty (not out) 71, Debasis Mohanty ct Desai b S Yadav 0, Basant Mohanty lbw b S Yadav 18, Dhiraj Singh lbw b S Yadav 0: Extras (b-1, lb-3, nb-14, w-1) 19 Total (all out, 84.3 overs) 220 Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-21, 3-26, 4-38, 5-84, 6-89, 7-173, 8-174, 9-220, 10-220 Bowling: S Trivedi 14-6-21-1, M Patel 14-7-21-3, Salil Yadav 20.3-4-52-3, A Makda 12-5-25-0, Rujul Bhatt 12-5-44-2, T Patel 11-0-47-1, N Patel 1-0-6-0.