BHUBANESWAR 22-Feb-2013 170
A century each by opener Paresh Patel and debutant Arabind Singh and a career-best haul of seven wickets for 39 runs by left-arm seamer Suryakant Pradhan powered Odisha to 235-run over Jharkhand in their last league match of the Vijay Merchant Trophy East Zone Tournament at Jadavpur University ground in Kolkata today.
But the huge win went in vain as Odisha failed to qualify for the knock-out stage and finished third in the five-team zonal league with eight points from four matches. Assam and Bengal advanced to the knock-out round as the top finishers of East Zone, garnering 14 and 12 points respectively. Host Bengal spoiled Odisha’s chances, trouncing table-toppers Assam by seven wickets in another league match of the day at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Put into bat by Jharkhand captain Shahbaz Nadeem, Odisha mustered a record total of 253 for four and then bundled out the opposition for 118 to script their second successive win, which fetched them five points, including one bonus point.
After losing opener Subjhrajit Sahoo cheaply, Odisha capitalised on a 214-run stand for the second wicket between Patel and Arabind to take control of the match. Patel hit a career-best 126 (131 balls, 12x4, 3x6), his second List-A century, while Arabind slammed a flamboyant 132 (112 balls, 14x4, 4x6).
Captain Biplab Samantaray (37 off 13b, 1x4, 4x6) and Govind Poddar (26 off 19b, 2x4, 1x6) further swelled the total with cameo knocks. The Odisha innings was embellished with a total of 33 fours and 12 sixes.
Chasing the massive target, Jharkhand found Pradhan medium-pace bowling too hot to handle and were reduced to 43 for eight. They were saved from a total collapse thanks to 66-run partnership for the ninth wicket btweeen Rahul Shukla and Jaskaran Singh. Shukla shone both with ball and bat, picking two wickets and hitting his maiden List A half-century. His 55-ball 50 included six boundaries and two sixes.
Ninteen-year-old Pradhan pulverised the opposition batting line-up, picking up a wicket each in seven of his eight overs. Odisha pacers bagged all the 10 wickets with skipper Samantaray claiming a brace and Basant Mohanty taking one. Subhrajit Sahoo provided ideal support to Pradhan, taking three catches behind the stumps.
SCOREBOARD
ODISHA: Paresh Patel b Shukla 126, Subhrajit Sahoo lbw Yadav 14, Arvind Singh b Shukla 132, Govind Poddar c Shukla b J Singh 26, Biplab Samantaray (not out) 37, Bibhudutta Panda (not out) 9; Extras (lb-2, w-6) 8
Total (4 wkts; 50 overs) 353
Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-230, 3-300, 4-306
Bowling: Ajay Yadav 9-1-49-1, R Shukla 10-0-76-2, J Singh 10-0-69-1, S Ghosh 1-0-13-0, D Chougule 2-0-16-0, I Jaggi 6-0-34-0, S Nadeem 12-0-94-0
JHARKHAND: S Ghosh b Pradhan 6, R Nemat c A Singh b Pradhan 4, I Jaggi lbw B Mohanty 5, S Tiwary c S Sahoo b Pradhan 1, D Chougule c S Sahoo b Pradhan 6, K Singh c S Sahoo b Pradhan 8, S Gautam b Pradhan 5, S Nadeem b Pradhan 1, R Shukla b Samantaray 50, J Singh c Pradhan b Samantaray 23, A Yadav (not out) 1; Extras (b-1, lb-3, w-4) 8
Total (10 wkts; 28.2 overs) 118
Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-18, 3-20, 4-20, 5-27, 6-38, 7-41, 8-43, 9-109
Bowling: Suryakant Pradhan 8-0-39-87, Basant Mohanty 7-2-17-1, Ankit Yadav 4-1-8-0, Bibhudutta Panda 1-0-8-0, Lagnajit Samal 2-0-19-0, Biplab Samantaray 3.2-2-5-2, Paresh Patel 3-0-18-0.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PHOTO: Leading Odisha performers (L to R) Paresh Patel, Arabind Singh and Suryakant Pradhan
