BHUBANESWAR 31-Dec-2014 65
Odisha senior cricket team ended the year on a creditable note, hammering hosts Haryana by seven wickets in their Group B Ranji Trophy match at Chaudhry Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium in Lahli (Rohtak) today. The emphatic win, which fetched six points, was the first of the current Ranji season for Odisha and first in eight matches. Odisha had won their previous Ranji match, thrashing Jharkhand by 9 wickets at DRIEMS ground, Tangi (Cuttack) on Nov 24, 2013.
Odisha, however, made heavy weather of chasing a small target of 39 runs for victory. They lost three wickets within eight runs before, Govind Poddar and Biplab Samantaray wrapped it up in the 14th over. Samantaray hit the winning run with a six off Joginder Sharma. The win was Odisha’s second in five Ranji matches against Haryana.
Pace bowlers played instrumental role in the victory, bagging 19 out of 20 wickets. Deepak Behera was most successful among them, scalping four wickets in the second innings and seven in the match. In the process, he completed 50 first-class wickets in his 24th match.
Pace spearhead Basant Mohanty, who bagged six wickets in this match, achieved another milestone of his career, completing 200 first-class wickets in 57 matches. Suryakant Pradhan, the other pacer of the side, calimed five wickets in the match.
Put into bat after losing the toss, Haryana were skittled out for 127. In reply, Odisha took a 105-run lead by declaring their first innings at 232 for nine. Though none of the Odisha batsmen was able to score a half-century, nine among them made useful contributions.
Openers Girija Rout (39) and Natraj Behera (39) gave Odisha a good platform, putting on 57 runs for the opening wicket. Among other notable scorers, Arabinda Singh, Biplab Samantray and Suryakanta Pradhan contributed 30, 25 and 33 in the order. Pradhan used long handle to good effect, hitting four fours and one six in his 21-ball cameo.
Odisha set up the stage for an emphatic victory by declaring their first innings at the overnight score of 232 for nine and then dismissing Haryana for 143 in the second essay. The visitors had the opportunity to inflict an innings defeat on the home team.
But fine rear-guard action by Amit Mishra denied them the feat. Former India leg-spinner Mishra hit an 84-ball 37 and put on 36 runs for the last wicket with Ashish Hooda to force Odisha bat for the second time.
SCOREBOARD
HARYANA (1st innings): A Barot c S Sahoo b D Behera 21, N Saini b Mohanty 2, S Singh b Pradhan 1, S Rana (run out) 18, A Khod c S Sahoo b D Behera 38, R Dalal b Mohanty 1, J Yadav b Pradhan 1, A Mishra lbw Pradhan 0, J Sharma c Mohanty b D Behera 14, Mohit Sharma c Rout b Mohanty 19, A Hooda (not out) 2; Extras (lb-6, nb-4) 10
Total (all out; 41.1 overs) 127
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-11, 3-44, 4-51, 5-58, 6-65, 7-65, 8-95, 9-125, 10-127
Bowling: Basant Mohanty 15-5-40-3, Suryakant Pradhan 12-5-35-3, Deepak Behera 10.1-2-33-3, Biplab Samantaray 4-1-13-0
ODISHA (1st innings): Girija Rout c Rana b Yadav 39, Natraj Behera c Khod b M Sharma 39, Govind Poddar c Rana b Yadav 16, Arabind Singh c Barot b Yadav 30, Biplab Samantaray lbw Yadav 25, Abhilash Mallick c Hooda b Yadav 12, Subhrajit Sahoo c Yadav b M Sharma 16, Deepak Behera c Rana b Yadav 13, Suryakant Pradhan c Barot b M Sharma 33, Basant Mohanty (not out) 2, Dhiraj Singh (not out) 1; Extras (lb-1, w-1, nb-2)
Total (9 wkts decl; 84 overs) 232
Fall of wickets: 1-57, 2-95, 3-114, 4-133, 5-146, 6-167, 7-191, 8-228, 9-230
Bowling: Joginder Sharma 18-4-50-0, Mohit Sharma 20-8-38-3, A Hooda 12-5-19-0, S Rana 9-2-31-0, A Mishra 0.1-0-2-0, J Yadav 24.5-5-91-6
HARYANA (2nd innings): A Barot b D Behera 20, N Saini C Rout b Samantaray 27, S Singh c Samantaray b D Behera 2, S Rana c Mallick b D Behera 1, A Khod b D Behera 0, R Dalal b Pradhan 21, J Yadav c Poddar b Mohanty 11, J Sharma c Mallick b Pradhan 0, A Mishra b Mohanty 37, M Sharma c D Singh b Mohanty 0, A Hooda (not out) 7; Extras (b-6, lb-3, nb-4) 13
Total (All out; 55.2 overs) 143
Fall of wickets: 1-42, 2-44, 3-51, 4-51, 5-71, 6-82, 7-82, 8-103, 9-103, 10-143
Bowling: Basant Mohanty 16.2-2-67-3, Suryakant Pradhan 15-5-32-2, Deepak Behera 17-7-22-4, Biplab Samantaray 5-1-7-1, Dhiraj Singh 2-0-6-0
ODISHA (2nd innings): Girija Rout c sub b M Sharma 0, Natraj Behera c Rana b M Sharma 0, Govind Poddar (not out) 13, Abhilash Mallick b M Sharma 0, Biplab Samantaray (not out) 26; Extras (b-1, lb-1) 2
Total (3 wkts; 13.1 overs) 41
Fall of wicket: 1-1, 2-8, 3-8
Bowling: Mohit Sharma 6-4-11-3, S Rana 2-1-6-0, Joginder Sharma 5.1-1-22-0
