CUTTACK 23-Nov-2010 201
A half-century each by Sumitosh Praharaj and captain Abhilash Mallick guided Orissa to a thrilling three-wicket win over host Goa on the last day of their four-day Cooch Behar Trophy (u-19) Plate Group-A league match at Bits Pilani, Vasco today.
At the close of third day’s play, Orissa were struggling at 97 for four in the second innings, needing a total of 233 runs for victory. They suffered another blow early today, losing the wicket of Sujit Lenka for nine. But Mallick and Praharaj compiled 104 runs for the sixth wicket to ensure victory for Orissa.
Praharaj, who scored 48 in the first innings, remained unbeaten on 81, which included 14 boundaries, while Mallick was dismissed by Ganeshraj Narvekar for 50 (7x4). Leg spinner Narvekar bowled beautifully for the home side, bagging five wickets for 62 runs. Rewards followed Praharaj and Mallick for their match-winning knocks with Orissa Cricket Association announcing cash awards of Rs 25,000 and Rs 20,000 for the former and latter respectively.
Earlier in the first innings, Goa rode on Darshan Misal’s 91 to post a competitive total of 256 and then dismissed Orissa for 188 to gain a lead of 68 runs. Bithal Gawas caused major damage to the Orissa innings, bagging five wickets. However, in the second innings, Goa could not bat as well as they did in the first innings and folded up for 164.
Medium-pacer Soumendra Das was another impressive performer for Orissa, scalping seven wickets in the match. Orissa would next meet Vidarbha at Nagpur from November 27 to 30.
BRIEF SCORE:
GOA (1st innings): 256/10 in 99.4 overs (Darshan Misal 91, Amogh Dessai 40, P Gawas 32; Soumendra Das 4/42, Suryakanta Pradhan 2/65).
ORISSA (1st innings): 188/10 in 61.5 overs (Sumitosh Praharaj 48, Pratik Das 44, Pallabendu Mishra 39; Bithal Gawas 5/37, Amogh Dessai 3/40).
GOA (2nd innings): 164/10 in 67 overs (Keenan Vaz 62, Srinivas Fadte 26; Soumendra Das 3/48, Sumitosh Praharaj 2/27, Ankit Yadav 2/28).
ORISSA (2nd innings): 236/7 in 73.4 overs (Sumitosh Praharaj 81 n.o, Abhilash Mallick 50, Subhrajyoti Mishra 39, Pallabendu Mishra 34; Ganeshraj Narvekar 5/62, Srinivas Fadte 2/15).
