BHUBANESWAR 15-Jan-2015 74
A career-best haul of six wickets for 24 runs by Manan Sharma propelled Delhi to an innings and 150-run win over a hapless Odisha in their Group B Ranji Trophy match at Feroz Shah Kotla Ground in Delhi today. The lop-sided four-day match ended in less than three days as Odisha made a meek surrender, losing 19 wickets on the penultimate day.
In reply to a first innings total of 353 by Delhi, Odisha folded up for 118. Forced to follow on after conceding a huge lead of 235 runs, the visitors were skittled out for a paltry 85 runs. This was the second defeat of the season and a humiliating one for Odisha, who had suffered their first defeat against Gujarat by eight wickets. Odisha now have eight points from five matches. On the other hand, this was the fourth win for Gautam Gambhir-led Delhi, who consolidated their position at the top of the group table with 30 points from five matches.
The innings defeat completely exposed the mediocrity of the Odisha batting line-up. It was really baffling that despite having former Test opener Shiv Sundar Das as their batting coach, the Abhilash Mallick-led Odisha team folded up twice in less than a day`s play and that too against an inexperienced bowling attack.
Though this was only the sixth first-class match for left-arm spinner Manan Sharma, he proved to be wrecker-in-chief of Odisha`s second innings. Son of former India batsman and Ranji stalwart Ajay Sharma, Manan finished with a match haul of eight wickets for 33 runs. Incidentally, the 23-year-old spinner had made his first-class debut against Odisha in Delhi two years ago.
Earlier, electing to bat first, Delhi rode on a century by young opener Unmukt Chand and a half-century by Mithun Manhas to compile a healthy total of 353. In reply, Odisha were 25 for one at the close of second day of the four-day match.
Rain played spoil sport in the second day, restricting play to 34.2 overs. Overnight rain delayed the start of day`s proceedings to 11.30 am and this was followed by two interruptions due to drizzle. Amidst the inclement weather condition, three players lit up the match with noteworthy performances.
Unmukt Chand stole the show on the opening day, slamming 117 with the help of 12 boundaries and three sixes. This was the seventh first-class hundred and third of the season by the 21-year-old former India under-19 captain, who completed 2,000 first-class runs in the process.
Experienced Odisha swing bowler Basant Mohanty asserted his authority on the second day, bagging five wickets in an innings for the 11th time in his 59-match first-class career. Using the overcast condition to his advantage, Mohanty picked up four wickets in the day, including that of dangerous-looking Mithun Manhas and Varun Sood.
After making a fine start, which saw them reach 216 for two, Delhi suffered a middle-order failure and were reduced to 286 for eight, losing six wickets for 70 runs. However, a 67-run partnership for the ninth wicket between Navdeep Saini and Varun Sood helped the home team compile a strong total. Saini proved to be a thorn in the Odisha flesh as he remained unbeaten with a run-a-ball 42. Manhas was another Delhi batsman to shine in the match, hitting a grity 84.
SCOREBOARD
DELHI (1st innings): U Chand b Podder 117. G Gambhir lbw Mohanty 13, V Sehwag c Sahoo b Samantray 39, M Manhas lbw D Singh 84, M Sharma lbw D Singh 14, R Bhatia c Sahoo b Behera 0, P Bisht b D Behera 3, S Sharma lbw Mohanty 0, V Sood 27, N Saini (not out) 42, V Tokas lbw Mohanty 0; Extras (lb-1, nb-12) 13
Total (all out; 111.2 overs) 353
Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-94, 3-216, 4-241, 5-246, 6-259, 7-260, 8-286, 9-353, 10-353
Bowling: D Behera 26-10-57-2, B Mohanty 29.2-8-76-5, B Samantray 8-1-29-1, L Samal 18-2-79-0, G Podder 6-0-24-1, Dhiraj Singh 23-2-80-1, A Sarangi 1-0-6-0
ODISHA (1st innings): Girija Rout c Bisht b Tokas 24, Subhrajit Sahoo (run out) 10, Govind Poddar c Manhas b Saini 18, Anurag Sarangi lbw Saini 15, Biplab Samantaray b Saini 3, Abhilash Mallick b Sood 2, Natraj Behera , Lagnajit Samal st Bisht b Sood 19, Deepak Behera c Rawal b M Sharma 0, Basant Mohanty c Milind b Sood 1, Dhiraj Singh c (sub) b M Sharma 0; Extras (b-4, lb-3) 7
Total (all out; 762.1 overs) 118
Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-39, 3-62, 4-71, 5-72, 6-76, 7-110, 8-112, 9-113, 10-118
Bowling: N Saini 12-5-22-3, V Tokas 13-6-45-1, V Sood 18-11-16-3, M Sharma 7.1-0-9-2, Rajat Bhatia 10-2-16-0, Shivam Sharma 2-0-3-0.
ODISHA (2nd innings): G Rout lbw Tokas 2, N Behera b Tokas 1, G Poddar c Bisht b M Sharma 1, A Sarangi lbw S Sharma 32, B Samantaray lbw M Sharma 1, A Mallick lbw M Sharma 30, S Sahoo b S Sharma 0, L Samal lbw M Sharma 1, D Behera c Rawal b M Sharma 7, B Mohanty c Manhas b M Sharma 1, D Singh (not out) 0; Extras (b-8, lb-1) 9
Total (All out; 39.1 overs) 85
Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-8, 3-10, 4-13, 5-63, 6-64, 7-71, 8-79, 9-80, 10-85
Bowling: V Tokas 7-4-8-2, M Sharma 18.1-5-24-6, S Sharma 10-1-36-2, V Sood 4-2-8-0
