BHUBANESWAR 01-Dec-2013 135
A captain’s knock of 106 by Biplab Samantaray and Avilash Mallick’s back-to-back fifties went in vain as hosts Odisha lost to six-time champions Karnataka by four wickets on the fourth and last day of their Group-A Ranji match at DRIEMS ground in Tangi, 20 kms from here today.
But Odisha gave Karnataka a good run for their money before suffering their second defeat in four matches. Needing 127 for their first win in four matches, Karnataka lost four wickets for 26 runs to be reduced to 109 for six before the formality was completed by Kunal Kapoor and Abrar Kazi. If Odisha had scored another 50 runs in the second innings, the result would have been different.
Put into bat under overcast conditions and against a formidable pace attack, Odisha suffered a top order collapse before a defiant 98 by Abhilash Mallick and useful contributions by the tail-enders helped them made a modest total of 226. India discard Abhimanyu Mithun scalped six wickets as Odisha were reduced to 66 for seven.
However, the 22-year-old Mallick showed great courage at this critical juncture and rescued the team with his defiant 122-ball knock, which was embellished with 16 boundaries and one six. It was heartbreak for Odisha as the gutsy Mallick missed his maiden first-class hundred by a whisker.
Tailenders Alok Sahoo, Basant Mohanty and Suryakant Pradhan provided nice support to Mallik’s majestic effort as Odisha accomplished a 200-plus total with a fifty-plus partnership for each of the last three partnerships. Rooky speedster Pradhan made his first-class debut memorable, albeit with the bat, hitting a cameo 34 (28b, 3x4, 3x6).
In reply, Karnataka rode on Manish Pandey’s century and K Rahul’s half-century to make an imposing total of 379. But for a three-wicket haul by pace bowler Pradhan, Karnataka’s first innings lead would have been much bigger than 153.
A five-wicket haul each by opposition pace duo Mithun and H Sarath set up the platform for victory as Odisha folded for 279 in their second innings. Samantaray played a captain’s knock of 106 (215 balls, 14x4, 2x6), which was his third first-class century, while Mallick hit 50 (), which was his sixth first-class half-century.
The win fetched Karnataka six points and elevated them from seventh to fourth position in the Group-A table, while Odisha with nine points slipped from fifth to sixth place.
SCOREBOARD
ODISHA (1st innings): Girija Rout lbw Mithun 20, Bikash Pati c Gautam b Mithun 9, Niranjan Behera c Rahul b Mithun 8, Govind Poddar c Gautam b Mithun 1, Byplay Samantaray c Gautam b Mithun 0, Abhilash Mallick lbw Kazi 98, Subhrajit Sahoo c Gautam b Mithun 1, Deepak Behera lbw Mithun 0, Alok Sahoo c Agarwal b Aravind 14, Basant Mohanty (not out) 19, Suryakant Pradhan lbw Kazi 34; Extras (b-6, lb-10, w-2) 18
Total (all out; 71.1overs) 226
Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-39, 3-45, 4-47, 5-56, 6-66, 7-66, 8-120, 9-172
Bowling: A Mithun 21.5-7-52-6, H Sarath 21-3-58-1, A Kazi 6.1-1-38-2, S Aravind 18.1-7-54-1, M Pandey 2-0-2-0, K Kapoor 2-1-8-0.
KARNATAKA (1st innings): R Uthappa lbw Mohanty 33, M Agarwal c Samantaray b D Behera 23, L Rahul c S Sahoo b Samantaray 67, M Pandey b Pradhan 132, K Kapoor (run out) 25, C Gautam lbw Pradhan 16, G Satish b Pradhan 0, A Kazi lbw D Behera 17, A Mithun c Pradhan b A Sahoo 43, S Aravind lbw Mohanty 1, H Sarath (not out) 0; Extras (b-9, lb-2, nb-6, pen 5) 22
Total (all out; 117.3 overs) 379
Fall of wickets: 1-48, 2-77, 3-191, 4-257, 5-305, 6-305, 7-322, 8-354, 9-379
Bowling: Basant Mohanty 34-7-105-2, Suryakant Pradhan 16-3-66-3, Deepak Behera 30-5-79-2, Alok Sahoo 11.3-2-37-1, Biplab Samantaray 12-1-47-1, Niranjan Behera 14-3-29-0.
ODISHA (2nd innings): G Rout c Pandey b Mithun 4, B Pati b Sarath 11, N Behera c Gautam b Sarath 15, G Poddar c Rahul b Sarath 34, B Samantaray lbw Sarath 106, A Mallick c Kapoor b Mithun 50, S Sahoo lbw Mithun 0, A Sahoo c Gautam b Mithun 21, D Behera c Gautam b Mithun 0, B Mohanty 14, S Pradhan c Aravind b Sarath 0; Extras (b-17, lb-7) 24
Total (all out; 88.3 overs) 279
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-29, 3-36, 4-74, 5-174, 6-182, 7-232, 8-242, 9-279
Bowling: A Mithun 22-6-58-5, H Sarath 25.3-7-80-5, S Aravind 18-8-35-2, M Pandey 6-0-17-0, A Kazi 15-1-59-0, K Rahul 1-0-1-0, M Agarwal 1-0-5-0
KARNATAKA (2nd innings): M Agarwal c S Sahoo b Pradhan 5, K Rahul b D Behera 29, G Satish c Rout b Mohaty 34, C Gautam c & b Pradhan 13, M Pandey c S Sahoo b Mohanty 12, K Kapoor (not out) 11, R Uthappa c Poddar b Pradhan 0, A Kazi (not out) 16; Extras (b-8, nb-2) 10
Total (6 wkts; 41.3 overs) 130
Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-65, 3-83, 4-103, 5-107, 6-109
Bowling: B Mohanty 15-3-34-2, D Behera 8-1-23-1, S Pradhan 13-4-38-3, A Sahoo 5-0-23-0, A Mallick 0.3-0-4-0.
