BHUBANESWAR 27-Nov-2012 323
Underdogs Odisha created history by registering a stunning 65-run victory, their first in five meetings, over hosts Karnataka on the fourth and last day of their Group-B Ranji Trophy match at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore today. This was the second successive win in four matches for Odisha, who had trounced Haryana by four wickets in the previous match at Lahli, Haryana one week ago.
The triumph over Karnataka, which fetched six points, catapulted Odisha to the top of the nine-team Group-B table with 13 points from four matches. Natraj Behera led Odisha team will next meet Maharashtra at VSS Stadium in Sambalpur from December 1 to 4. The victory against Karnataka, who had won all four of their previous Ranji matches against Odisha since 1984-85, assumed added significance as Odisha accomplished it despite conceding a first-innings lead of 11 runs.
The magnificent victory was possible mainly because of the superb team effort and the motivation provided to the players by coach and former India swing bowler Debasis Mohanty. Pace bowlers once again played a major role by taking 17 out 20 wickets and dismissing formidable Karnataka twice for a combined total of 392 runs.
In the batting department, Odisha put up spirited performance in the second innings to muster a competitive total of 255 runs. Chasing 245 for victory, Karnataka folded up for 179 after resuming their second innings at the overnight score of 43 for one. Pace spearhead Basant Mohanty and all-rounders Biplab Samantaray and Deepak Behera destroyed the home team’s top and middle order, bagging two wickets each, while all-rounder Alok Sahoo cut short the tail, scalping the last three wickets. Samantaray was adjudged the man of the match for scoring a total of 114 runs (28+86) and bagging a total of four wickets for 68 runs (2/40+2/28).
Put into bat Odisha overcame a top-order failure to make modest total of 202, thanks to a fighting half-century, the 24th of his first class career, by experienced campaigner Niranjan Behera, who was making a comeback to the team after a gap of almost one year. The 28-year-old right-hand batsman hit 61 (177 balls, 11x4) and rescued the team with two decent partnerships. He first compiled 51 for the fourth wicket with Biplab Samantaray and then added 69 runs for fifth wicket with wicket-keeper Subhrajit Sahoo, who contributed 45 runs, which included six boundaries and one six. C Gautam did a splendid job for Karnataka, taking six catches behind the stumps.
In reply, Karnataka gained a slender lead of 11 runs by making 213. Medium-pacer Deepak Behera was the most successful Odisha bowlers, bagging three wickets for 46 runs, while all-rounders Biplab Samantaray and Lagnajit Samal picked a brace each.
In the second innings, Biplab Samantaray and Subhrajit Sahoo hit 86 and 48 respectively to help Odisha pile up a competitive total of 255. The duo stitched together 100 runs in the sixth-wicket stand to rescue Odisha, who were struggling at 64 for four. Samantaray played 138 balls in his polished knock and hit 13 boundaries. This was the fifth half-century of his first class career and he completed 1,000 run in the process.
Sahoo’s 109-ball 48 was studded with eight hits to the fence. Among other notable scorers all-rounders Alok Sahoo and Lagnajit Samal contributed 37 and unbeaten 20 respectively. Karnataka skipper R Vinjay Kumar claimed seven wickets in the second innings and 10 wickets in the match.
Odisha made three changes in the team for the match against Karnataka, including Niranjan Behera, Subhrajit Sahoo and Alok Sahoo in places of Abhilash Mallick, Haladhar Das and Dhiraj Singh respectively.
Coach Mohanty attributed the victory to team effort. ``We stuck to our basics and paid importance to smaller things. The boys gave their best and deserved the victory,’’ he observed. ``Our pace bowlers played major role in the victory. They bowled on the right areas and put a lot of pressure on the opposition batting line-up. In our batting department, Biplab Samantaray, Niranjan Behera, Subhrajit Sahoo made valuable contributions,’’ added Mohanty.
SCOREBOARD
Odisha (1st innings): Sandip Mulia c Gautam b V Kumar 14, Natraj Behera b Sarath 0, Niranjan Behera c Gautam b Sarath 61, Govind Poddar c Gautam b Akshay 4, Biplab Samantray c Gautam b Sarath 28, Subhrajit Sahoo c Gautam b Binny 45, Deepak Behera c Gautam b V Kumar 0, Lagnajit Samal c Gautam b Akshay 13, Alok Sahoo c Pawan b Akshay 9, Basant Mohanty (not out) 10, Alok Mangaraj b Akshay 0; Extras (lb-4, w-3, nb-11) 18
Total (10 wkts; 79.3 overs) 202
Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-20, 3-36, 4-87, 5-156, 6-160, 7-182, 8-183, 9-202, 10-202
Bowling: R Vinay Kumar 18-8-31-3, H Sarath 15-3-47-2, S Akshay 14.3-3-40-4, S Binny 15-4-44-1, K Appanna 12-4-29-0, Amit Verma 5-2-7-0
Karnataka (1st innings): K Pawan c S Sahoo b A Sahoo 25, R Uthappa b Samantaray 43, S Ganesh b D Behera 19, M Pandey lbw Samantaray 8, A Verma b Samal 26, S Binny b D Behera 12, C Gautam (run out) 28, Vinay Kumar lbw D Behera 4, S Akshay c Niranjan Behera b Samal 24, K Appanna c Samantaray b Mohanty 0, H Sarath (not out) 0; Extras (b-16, lb-2, nb-6) 24
Total (10 kwt; 77.5 overs) 213
Fall of wickets: 1-59, 2-88, 3-104, 4-104, 5-138, 6-173, 7-183, 8-197, 9-197, 10-213
Bowling: Basant Mohanty 24-9-44-1, Alok Mangaraj 8-0-30-0, Deepak Behera 16-8-46-3, Alok Sahoo 11-5-27-1, Biplab Samantaray 15-1-40-2, Lagnajit Samal 3.5-0-8-2.
Odisha (2nd innings): Sandip Mulia b Vinay Kumar 0, Alok Sahoo lbw Binny 37, Niranjan Behera b Vinay Kumar 4, Govind Poddar b Vinay Kumar 16, Biplab Samantaray c Pandey b Vinay Kumar 86, Natraj Behera b Akshay 17, Subhrajit Sahoo b Vinay Kumar 48, Deepak Behera c Gautam b Vinay Kumar 7, Lagnajit Samal (not out) 20, Basant Mohanty c Gautam b Vinay Kumar 5, Alok Mangaraj b Akshya 0; Extras (b-4, lb-6, nb-5) 10
Total (10 wkts; 74 overs) 255
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-8, 3-54, 4-64, 5-105, 6-205, 7-216, 8-242, 9-252, 10-255
Bowling: R Vinay Kumar 21-6-58-7, S Akshay 13-1-43-2, H Sarath 17-1-70-0, K Appanna 6-0-23-0, A Verma 1-0-4-0, S Binny 14-5-39-1, R Uthappa 2-0-8-0
Karnataka (2nd innings): K Pawan c S Sahoo b Mangaraj 12, R Uthappa c Poddar b D Behera 45, S Ganesh lbw Mohanty 19, M Pandey lbw Mohanty 6, A Verma b D Behera 27, S Binny c S Sahoo b Samantaray 42, C Gautam , Vinay Kumar lbw Samantaray 0, S Akshay c Samantaray b A Sahoo 1, K Appanna c Samal b A Sahoo 0, H Sarath (not out) 0; Extras (b-6, lb-2, w-1) 9
Total (10 wkts; 72.3 overs) 179
Fall of wickets: 1-27, 2-58, 3-83, 4-85, 5-142, 6-161, 7-161, 8-170, 9-174, 10-179
Bowling: Basant Mohanty 22-8-31-2, Alok Mangaraj 14-4-44-1, Biplab Samantaray 16-4-28-2, Deepak Behera 12-3-38-2, Lagnajit Samal 1-0-3-0, Alok Sahoo 7.3-1-27-3.
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PHOTO: Victorious Odisha team in Bhubaneswar on Nov 28, 2012.
