BHUBANESWAR 17-Nov-2013 157
Odisha gained three points by virtue of taking a 71-run first innings lead in their four-day Group-A Ranji match, which ended in a draw against Vidarbha at VCA Stadium in Nagpur today. In reply to Odisha’s formidable first innings total of 453 for six declared, hosts Vidarbha folded up for 382, a little more than one hour after tea on the final day. Vidarbha settled with one point.
Five players rendered notable contributions for Odisha. They were Niranjan Behera, Subhrajit Sahoo, Basant Mohanty, Govind Poddar and Deepak Behera. Niranjan registered his third first-class century before being dismissed for a career best 131 (363b, 14x6).
Wicket-keeper Subhrajit, who replaced Haladhar Das in the team, justified his inclusion, hitting his maiden first-class ton. He remained unbeaten on 114 (218b, 10x4, 2x6). Pace spearhead Basant achieved the feat of five wickets in an innings for the seventh time in his 46-match first-class career.
Govind hit a 147-ball 74 (9x4, 2x6), which was his seventh first-class half-century. Deepak remained unbeaten on 58 (124b, 6x4, 1x6), which was his maiden first class half-century.
As many as three century partnerships helped Odisha compile the big total after chosing to bat first. Niranjan, who first rescued the team from 26 for two, putting on 150 runs in the third-wicket stand with Govind, added another 100 runs in the six-wicket partnership with Subhrajit. The latter compounded the agony of Vidarbha by stitching together 111 runs for the unfinished seventh-wicket alliance with Deepak.
Five players put up impressive performance for hosts Vidarbha. Opening batsman Faiz Fazal scored his sixth first-class century with a patient 124 (296b, 16x4), while former India Test batsman Hemang Badani and former Odisha captain Rashmi Ranjan Parida hit a half-century each.
Badani notched up his 45th first-class half-century (65 off 207b, 7x4). Parida, also a member of the former Ranji champions Rajasthan, slammed 60 (130b, 7x4) to register his 47th first-class fifty. He was three three runs shy of his 8000 runs in first-class cricket when Mohanty, his Bhubaneswar city-mate, trapped him in front of the wicket.
Medium pacer Amol Jungade bagged four wickets for 56 runs with an economy of 1.75, while wicket-keeper Amol Ubarhande took five catches. Odisha would next meet Jharkhand at DRIEMS ground, Tangi (Cuttack) from November 21 to 24.
SCOREBOARD
ODISHA (1st innings): Girija Rout c Ubarhande b Jungade 15, Natraj Behera c Ubarhande b Jungade 7, Niranjan Behera c Wakhare b Ruikar 131, Govind Poddar Ubarhande b Wagh 74, Biplab Samantaray c Ubarhande b Jungade 40, Avilash Mallick c Ubarhande b Jungade 0, Subhrajit Sahoo (not out) 114, Deepak Behera (not out) 58; Extras (b-8, lb-3, w-2, nb-1) 14
Total (6 wkts decl; 174 overs) 453
Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-26, 3-176, 4-242, 5-242, 6-342
Bowling: S Wagh 27-5-76-1, A Jungade 32-13-56-4, S Ruikar 42-11-79-1, A Wakhare 49-7-138-0, A Sheikh 24-1-93-0
VIDARBHA (1st innings): F Fazal b D Behera 124, A Ubarhande b B Mohanty 0, A Shaikh b A Mangaraj 4, S Srivastava (run out) 27, H Badani c G Rout b D Singh 65, R Paradkar c S Sahoo b Samantaray 12, R R Parida lbw B Mohanty 60, S Wagh c & b B Mohanty 24, S Ruikar b B Mohanty 35, A Jungade lbw B Mohanty 14, A Wakhare (not out) 1; Extras (b-4, lb-8)127
Total (all out; 169.1 overs) 382
Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-14, 3-114, 4-199, 5-218, 6-264, 7-299, 8-350, 9-381
Bowling: Basant Mohanty 38.1-15-59-5, Alok Mangaraj 19-4-61-1, Deepak Behera 24-10-47-1, Biplab Samantaray 25-4-56-1, Dhiraj Singh 35-9-92-1, Govind Poddar 22-7-47-0, Niranjan Behera 6-3-8-0.
