CUTTACK 17-Dec-2014 86
Captain Abhilash Mallick`s maiden first-class hundred went in vain as hosts Odisha lost to Gujarat by eight wickets on the fourth and last day of their Group B Ranji Trophy match at DRIEMS Ground, Tangi, 20 kms from here on today. Chasing a modest target of 102, Parthiv Patel-led Gujarat lost two wickets early before a 73-run unfinished stand for the third wicket between first-innings centurion Bhargav Merai (43) and Rujul Bhatt (33) helped them romp home comfortably.
After conceding a 147-run first innings lead, Odisha mustered a fighting total of 248 in the second innings, thanks to a pugnacious century by young captain Mallick and the ninth career half-century by vice-captain Govind Poddar. Mallick`s stroke-filled knock of 126 came off 137 balls and was studded with 23 boundaries and two sixes. Poddar slammed 57 with the help of six hits to the rope.
The duo put on 171 runs for the sixth wicket to save Odisha from what would have been an innings defeat. The hosts were tottering at 18 for five when Mallick joined Poddar at the middle. But after the departure of Mallick, the home team suffered another slump as the last four wickets fell for 28 runs.
Left-arm seamer Rush Kalaria shattered Odisha`s batting line-up in both the innings, bagging six wickets in both the innings.
Earlier in the first innings, Odisha rode on a half-century by Natraj Behera to make a modest total of 225. In reply, a century by Bhargav Merai and a half-century by Akshar Patel helped Gujarat compile a healthy total of 372. The emphatic win fetched Gujarat six points and carried them to the top of the group table with nine points from two matches. On the other hand Odisha stayed on one point, which they had gained earlier from the drawn tie against Maharashtra.
SCOREBOARD
ODISHA (1st innings): Anurag Sarangi c P Patel b Kalaria 0, Natraj Behera (run out) 75, Niranjan Behera c Karia b Kalaria 0, Govind Poddar c Karia b Kalaria 37, Biplab Samantaray c P Patel b Kalaria 25, Abhilash Mallick c Gohil b A Patel 1, Haladhar Das b K Patel 32, Tukuna Sahu b K Patel 15, Deepak Behera b Kalaria 13, Suryakant Pradhan c Merai b Kalaria 14, Basant Mohanty (not out) 0; Extras (b-2, lb-6, nb-4, w-1) 13
Total (all out; 93.2 overs) 225
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-0, 3-86, 4-144, 5-148, 6-154, 7-182, 8-207, 9-225, 10-225
Bowling: R B Kalaria 23-8-59-6, Ishwar Chaudhary 20-5-61-0, K D Patel 21.2-7-55-2, Akshar Patel 20-12-22-1, P K Panchal 4-0-15-0, J B Karia 5-3-5-0
GUJARAT (1st innings): S Gohil c Das b Samantaray 14, P Panchal c Das b D Behera 25, B Merai c Samantray b Pradhan 134, Parthiv Patel lbw Pradhan 44, R Bhatt c Das b Samantaray 19, Akshar Patel c Samantray b D Behera 50, J Karia c D b Mohanty 36, R Kalaria c Das b Pradhan 6, K Patel c Sarangi b D Behera 4, Ishwar Chaudhary (not out) 0, Y Venugopal Rao (absent hurt) 0; Extras (b-18, lb-9, w-4, nb-9) 40
Total (all out; 123.3 overs) 372
Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-66, 3-158, 4-213, 5-287, 6-338, 7-357, 8-372, 9-372
Bowling: Basant Mohanty 31-7-74-1, Suryakant Pradhan 21.3-4-59-3, Deepak Behera 26-5-80-3, Biplab Samantaray 23-7-51-2, Tukuna Sahu 21-0-51-0, Govind Poddar 7-2-28-0, Niranjan Behera 3-2-2-0
ODISHA (2nd innings): Tukuna Sahu c Gandhi b Kalaria 0, Anurag Sarangi b K Patel 0, Niranjan Behera c Gohil b Kalaria 0, Natraj Behera c P Patel b Kalaria 8, Biplab Samantaray c Bhatt b Kalaria 0, Govind Poddar c Gohil b A Patel 57, Abhikash Mallick c Panchal b K Patel 126, Haladhar Das c Gohil b Chaudhary 15, Deepak Behera c P Patel b Kalaria 4, Basant Mohanty (not out) 10, Suryakant Pradhan c A Patel b Kalaria 14; Extras (lb-3, nb-11) 14
Total (all out; 74.1 overs) 248
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 4-2, 5-18, 6-189, 7-220, 8-220, 9-228, 10-248
Bowling: R Kalaria 24.1-10-45-6, K Patel 16-5-62-2, A Patel 17-4-60-1, I Chaudhary 17-1-78-1.
GUJARAT (2nd innings): S Gohil c&b Pradhan 7, P Panchal c D Behera b Mohanty 3, B Merai (not out) 43, R Bhatt (not out) 33; Extras (b-8, lb-6, nb-5) 19
Total (2 wkts; 30 overs) 105
Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-32
Bowling: Basant Mohanty 6-1-15-1, Deepak Behera 4-2-7-0, Suryakant Pradhan 4-0-12-1, Biplab Samantray 5-2-10-0, Tukuna Sahu 7-0-36-0, Govind Poddar 4-0-11-0.
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PHOTO: Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel (Left) receives a memento from DRIEMS chairman Pramod Chandra Rath after their victory against Odisha at DRIEMS ground in Tangi on Dec 17, 2014.
