17-Dec-2009 114
Vinit Indulkar`s unbeaten 137 and his 173-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Kuldeep Diwan helped Himachal Pradesh continue their fight to escape defeat in the seventh and last round Ranji Trophy Super League (Group-A) match against Orissa at Dharamsala today.
Trailing by 191 runs in the first innings and resuming their second at the overnight score of 47 for two, host Himachal Pradesh defied the opposition attack to reach 360 for seven at the close of the penultimate day. The home side now lead by 169 runs with three wickets in hand and would need to survive the first hour of the last day’s play to prevent Orissa from registering their first win of the season.
Indulkar slammed an unconquered 137, which came off 317 balls and was studded with 17 hits to the rope and two over it. He found an able ally in Diwan, who scored a beligerent 83 (124 balls, 11x4, 2x6) before being run out by Debasis Mohanty.
Among Orissa bowlers, medium-pacer Alok Sahoo was most successful, picking up three wickets for 71 runs. The only other bowler to take a wicket on the third day was left-arm spinner Dhiraj Singh.
SCOREBOARD
HIMACHAL PRADESH (1st innings): 125
ORISSA (1st innings): 316
HIMACHAL PRADESH (2nd innings): B Thakkar lbw D Mohanty 5, H Dogra c S Sahoo b D Mohanty 12, V Indulkar (batting) 137, Mukesh Sharma c SS Das b A Sahoo 40, P Dogra b A Sahoo 13, A Mannu b D Singh 30, K Diwan (run out) 83, Sarandeep Singh c D Singh b A Sahoo 6, VS Malik (batting) 0: Extras (b-13, lb-9, nb-6, w-6) 34.
Total (7 wkts, 103 overs) 360
Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-27, 3-92, 4-132, 5-174, 6-347, 7-358
Bowling: Debasis Mohanty 28-6-80-2, Basant Mohanty 20-3-76-0, Alok Sahoo 29-8-71-3, Dhiraj Singh 21-3-94-1, Rakesh Mohanty 3-0-16-0, Pravanjan Mullick 2-1-1-0.
