Natraj hits double ton in drawn Ranji match vs Saurashtra

A majestic double century by opener Natraj Behera enabled host Odisha draw their opening Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match against Saurashtra here at Barabati Stadium today. Because of non-completion of first innings of both the teams no team could get any point from this futile match.

Put into bat, Saurashtra rode on India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja’s majestic triple century to compile a mammoth total of 545 in the first innings. On a wicket that proved to be batting paradise, Jadeja made merry with a towering knock of 314, which was embellished with 29 boundaries and nine sixes. He spent a total of nine hours 18 minutes at the middle for his 375-ball knock. This was the first triple hundred and highest score of his first class career, bettering the previous highest of 232 not out, which he had also slammed against Orissa at Rajkote in 2008-09.

Jadeja’s 314 was also the highest individual score at Barabati Stadium, the previous highest being 300 not out by former Orissa opener Shiv Sundar Das against Jammu & Kashmir in 2006-07. Despite being sent on a leather hunt by Jadeja, Orissa bowlers, especially pace spearhead Basant Mohanty, displayed good fighting spirit. Taking heavy workload on his shoulder, Mohanty returned with figures of four wickets for 86 runs. Debutants Jayant Behera and Deepak Behera also bowled well, taking two wickets apiece.

The young Odisha side, comprising four debutants (Deepak Behera, Jayant Behera, Abhilash Mallick, Sumitosh Praharaj) and desperately looking for their first out-right win in three seasons, had their chances to take control of the match but could not capitalise.

Giving a fitting reply to Saurashtra`s huge total, Odisha made to 496 for seven at stumps on the fourth and final day. Opener Natraj Behera emerged as the hero of Odisha, scoring a career-best knock of 209 (501b, 27x4, 2x6), spending more than two days (731 minutes) at the crease. Winner of BCCI`s M Chidambaram Trophy as the best under-22 cricketer of the season 2009-10, Behera dedicated the double century to his mother Chitra.

It was not only Natraj Behera but most of the home batsmen found themselves among runs in the four-day match. Abhilash Mallick scored a half-century (64 off 175b, 8x4) on debut, other opener Bikash Swarup pati, all-rounder Paresh Patel, Biplab Samantaray missed respective half-centuries by a few runs and Deepak Behera, one of the four debutants, contributed an unbeaten 34.

SCOREBOARD

SAURASHTRA (1st innings): Chirag Pathak lbw B Mohanty 0, Bhushan Chauhan c N Behera b B Mohanty 83, Sitanshu Kotak c N Behera b D Behera 18, Ravindra Jadeja c Samantaray b D Behera 314, Jaydev Shah (run out) 11, Sagar Jogiyani c B Pati b J Behera 20, Pratik Mehta c Samantaray b J Behera 39, Kamlesh Makwana lbw B Mohanty 11, Sandip Maniar c Patel b Samantaray 16, Jaydev Unadkar (not out) 6, Siddharth Trivedi c Praharaj b B Mohanty 6; Extras (b-13, lb-4, nb-2, w-2) 21.
Total (all out, 159.3 overs) 545
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-50, 3-192, 4-211, 5-263, 6-362, 7-432, 8-508, 9-538, 10-545
Bowling: Basant Mohanty 37.3-10-86-4, Alok Sahoo 19-0-87-0, Deepak Behera 30-5-115-2, Biplab Samantaray 17-1-59-1, Jayant Behera 28-3-93-2, Paresh Patel 25-1-69-0, Abhilash Mallick 1-0-7-0, Sumitosh Praharaj 2-0-12-0.

ODISHA (1st innings): Bikash Pati b Unadkat 43, Natraj Behera b Mehta 209, Sumitosh Praharaj c Jadeja b Unadkat 6, Biplab Samantaray lbw Maniar 41, Haladhar Das (run out) 0, Abhilash Mallick c Jogiani b Mehta 64, Paresh Patel c Chauhan b Jadeja 48, Deepak Behera (not out) 34, Alok Sahoo (not out) 28; Extras (b-2, lb-12, nb-7) 21.
Total (7 wkts, 199 overs) 496
Fall of wickets: 1-70, 2-78, 3-169, 4-170, 5-336, 6-415, 7-434
Bowling: Jaydev Unadkat 47-20-82-2, Siddharth Trivedi 21-8-39-0, Sandeep Maniar 34-9-110-1, Kamlesh Makwana 31-5-98-0, Ravindra Jadeja 52-18-110-1, Sitanshu Kotak 7-3-25-0, Pratik Mehta 6-0-12-2, Jaydev Shah 1-0-4-0.