BHUBANESWAR 29-Jul-2014 127
Left-arm spinner Dhiraj Singh`s seven-wicket haul in the second innings and 11 in the match went in vain as Odisha lost to KSCA XI by two wickets on the last day of their four-day Zone-A match of the Dr K Thimmappiah Memorial All-India Cricket Tournament at Alur in Bangalore today. This was the second successive defeat for Odisha, who had lost their opening match against Haryana by 136 runs.
Chasing 244 for victory, KSCA XI rode on a half-century by K N Bharath (56, 111 balls, 6x4) and an unbroken 8th-wicket partnership worth 38 runs between K C Avinash (29 n.o) and Rohit More (25 n.o) to romp home with two wickets to spare. Dhiraj Singh bowled superbly, bagging seven wickets for 90 and a match haul of 11 for 145.
Earlier electing to bat, Odisha a rode on a half-century each by opener Girija Rout and captain Biplab Samantray to make a modest first innings total of 214. They were deep trouble, losing three wickets for 40. Rout and Samantray steadied the innings, putting on 91 runs in the fourth-wicket stand.
But the duo`s good work went in vain as the visitors were reduced to 165 for eight, losing five wickets for 34 runs. They managed to cross the 200-run mark thanks to a breezy 34 by tail-ender Suryakant Pradhan. Rout hit a 180-ball 65 with the help of four boundaries, while Samantray scored a 157-ball 59 with the help of three hits to the fence and one over it.
In reply, KSCA XI gained a 19-run lead by making 233. Left-arm spinner Dhiraj Singh Paresh Patel bowled beautifully for Odisha, bagging four wickets each.
In the second innings, Odisha put up better performance by compile a fighting total of 262. Rout, who top scored in the first innings with 65, registered his second half-century with a 280-ball 79, which included four hits to the fence.
Among other notable scorers of the Odisha second innings, Abhilash Mallick hit 45 and Rout`s opening partner Bikash Pati contributed 30. Amit Verma was the most successful bowler for the KSCA side with figures of six for 75.
BRIEF SCORE: Odisha 214 all out in 79.3 overs (Girija Rout 65, Biplab Samantray 59, Suryakant Pradhan 34; Udit Patel 3/42, Shreyas Gopal 3/58, A Mithun 2/24) and 262 all out in 114.3 overs (Girija Rout 79, Abhilas Malik 45, Bikas Swarup Pati 30, Paresh Patel 27; Amit Verma 6/75, Mayak Agarwal 2/12) lost to KSCA XI 233 all out in 78.2 overs (R Samarth 69, K Bharath 57, Udit Patel 23, A Mithun 23, Kunal Kapoor 22; Dheeraj Singh 4/55, Paresh Patel 4/66) and 247 for 8 in 88.5 overs (Mayank Agarwal 40, Amit Verma 41, KN Bharath 56, KC Avinash 29 n.o, Rohit More 25 n.o; Dheeraj Singh 7/90) by 2 wkts.
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PHOTO: Odisha spinner Dhiraj Singh.
