SAMBALPUR 09-Dec-2013 135
Opening batsman Natraj Behera made a successful return to Odisha senior team, scoring a majestic century, but his superb effort went in vain as Delhi gained three points by virtue of taking a 63-run first innings lead in their Group-A Ranji match, which ended in a dull draw here at VSS Stadium today. Host Odisha, who collected only one point from this match, slipped from sixth to seventh place in the Group-A table with 10 points in their kitty.
Odisha created more than one chances to post an outright win or take first innings lead against Delhi, but could not capitalise on any of these. Put into bat, Delhi were in dire straight, losing two wickets for nine runs. Young pace bowler Suryakant Pradhan dismissed opener Unmukt Chand and superstar Virender Sehwag in one over.
But an unbeaten 158 by allrounder Rajat Bhatia and a 92 by Mithun Manhas helped them overcome the early damage and muster an imposing total of 442. Delhi tail wagged merrily with Sumit Narwal and Ashish Nehra contributing 40 runs apiece. Especially, a 92-run partnership for the ninth wicket between Bhatia and Nehra came as icing on the cake.
In reply, Odisha folded up for 379 to concede a crucial 63-run first innings lead. Natraj Behera`s valiant 158 and his 157-run partnership for the fifth wicket with young Abhilash Mallick could not prevent Delhi from taking the lead. Odisha, who at one stage were going strong on 314 for four, lost their last six wickets for 65 runs.
Natraj`s 290-ball marathon knock was his fourth first-class hundred and was studded with 23 hits to the rope. With this knock he justified his return to the team after being sidelined for the last two matches due to lack of form.
In-form Abhilash, who scored a half-century in both the innings of their last Ranji match against Karnataka, continued his impressive batting by slamming 71 (105 ball, 10x4). This was his seventh first-class fifty and a ton eluded him for the third successive time. Odisha skipper Biplab Samantaray contributed 48 runs, but missed the opportunity to add another big knock to his two centuries at this venue. Medium-pacer Parvinder Awana was most successful Delhi bowler, bagging five wickets for 97 runs. This was his 10th five-wicket haul and he, in the process, completed 150 wickets in his first-class career.
After taking first innings lead, Delhi indulged in batting practice and declared their second innings at 221 for six, thus setting an unachievable target of 285 for the home team to win the game. Odisha were 37 for no loss when both the captains agreed to sign the peace treaty. Odisha, of course, reignited their hope for a miraculous win by reducing Delhi to 116 for five in the second innings. But Vaibhav Rawal and Rahul Yadav rescued Delhi by hitting a half-century each.
SCOREBOARD
DELHI (1st innings): Unmukt Chand c Poddar b Pradhan 3, Gautam Gambhir c Samantaray b D Behera 32, Virender Sehwag c Mallick b Pradhan 0, Mithun Manhas c Mallick b Mohanty 92, Vaibhav Rawal lbw Poddar 35, Rajat Bhatia (not out) 158, Rahul Yadav lbw D Singh 11, Varun Sood c Samantaray b Pradhan 16, Sumit Narwal c Poddar b D Behera 40, Ashish Nehra c Poddar b D Behera 39, Parvinder Awana b D Singh 1; Extras (b-2, lb-5, w-1) 8
Total (all out; 134.3 overs) 442
Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-9, 3-112, 4-152, 5-183, 6-220, 7-273, 8-338, 9-430
Bowling: Basant Mohanty 36-9-72-1, Suryakant Pradhan 27-5-131-3, Deepak Behera 35-3-107-3, Dhiraj Singh 27.3-6-86-2, Govind Poddar 7-0-27-1, Niranjan Behera 2-0-12-0
ODISHA (1st innings): Natraj Behera c Gambhir b Sood 158, Bikash Pati b Narwal 0, Niranjan Behera c Yadav b Nehra 5, Govind Poddar c Yadav b Awana 34, Biplab Samantaray b Awana 48, Abhilash Mallick c Yadav b Awana 71, Deepak Behera c Yadav b Awana 11, Subhrajit Sahoo lbw Awana 3, Basant Mohanty (not out) 16, Suryakant Pradhan b Sood 24, Dhiraj Singh lbw Sood 7; Extras (b-1, lb-1, w-1, nb-4) 7
Total (all out; 115.3 overs) 379
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-17, 3-70, 4-157, 5-314, 6-324, 7-329, 8-340, 9-365
Bowling: A Nehra 26-3-110-1, S Narwal 27-5-63-1, P Awana 26-5-97-5, V Sood 20.3-0-67-3, R Bhatia 16-6-40-0.
DELHI (2nd innings): U Chand lbw D Behera 4, G Gambhir lbw Pradhan 5, V Sehwag b Mohanty 44, M Manhas c Sahoo b D Behera 33, V Rawal c D Behera b D Singh 51, R Bhatia c Sahoo b Pradhan 5, R Yadav (not out) 50, V Sood (not out) 12; Extras (b-6, lb-10, nb-1) 17
Total (6 wkts decl; 79.2 overs) 221
Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-25, 3-88, 4-98, 5-116, 6-187
Bowling: Suryakant Pradhan 12-3-48-2, Deepak Behera 16-1-49-2, Basant Mohanty 17-5-42-1, Dhiraj Singh 20-8-31-1, Govind Poddar 10-028-0, Biplab Samantaray 4-0-7-0, Niranjan Behera 0.2-0-0-0
ODISHA (2nd innings): Bikash Pati (not out) 18, Natraj Behera (not out) 19
Total (0 wkt; 14 overs) 37
Bowling: V Sood 6-2-7-0, R Bhatia 5-1-16-0, U Chand 2-1-12-1, V Rawal 1-0-2-0.
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PHOTO: Odisha opener Natraj Behera returns after hitting a majestic 158 in Sambalpur on Dec 8, 2013.
