BHUBANESWAR 01-Apr-2015 72
The decision of the BCCI to give top stars a much-needed rest before the IPL-8 turned out to be a blessing in disguise for fringe or lesser-known players as they got the opportunity to showcase their talent in the first four matches of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy All-India T20 Super League, being hosted by Odisha Cricket Associaion at two venues in twin city Cuttack and Bhubaneswar today.
Playing his first match of the season in any format, all-rounder Shesdeep Patra scalped five wickets for 18 runs to bowl hosts Odisha to a stunning 17-run win over formidable Mumbai in their rain-curtailed Group B match at DRIEMS Cricket Stadium in Tangi. Punjab, Gujarat and Andhra registered wins in three other matches of the day.
Rookie wicket-keeper P Roshan Kumar Rao also played a notable role in the Odisha win, hitting a 34-ball 48 (6x4, 1x6). Electing to bat in a match, which was reduced to 15 overs due to rain, East Zone champions Odisha piled up 125 for eight with Govind Podder (24 off 22) and Suryakanta Pradhan (20 off 7) also making useful contributions. In reply, Mumbai found Patra`s left-arm spin too hot to handle and folded up for 108.
Odisha coach Debasis Mohanty showered praise on Patra and Rao for giving the home team a winning start. ``Shesdeep was drafted in as Pratik Das pulled out in order to appear his academic examination. Though it was Patra\`s first match of the season, he played instrumental role in the victory. With the ball not coming on to the bat, Shesdeep`s ploy to bowl with reduced speed worked well,`` said Mohanty, a former India swing bowler.
Commenting on Rao`s knock, Mohanty said: ``Since Roshan had done well in his debut match against Tripura, we decided to promote him to the opening slot. We are happy that he lived up to expectations with a fine knock today. He also did well behind the wicket, taking two catches and effecting one stumping,`` added Mohanty.
SCOREBOARD
ODISHA: Anurag Sarangi c Raut b Parkar 16, P Rosan Kumar Rao (run out) 48, Govinda Podder c Bista b Raut 24, Aravind Singh c SS Shaikh b Raut 3, Biplab Samantaray b Raje 2, Suryakant Pradhan c SM Shaikh b Raje 20, Shesdeep Patra c S Singh b Raje 1, Deepak Behera (run out) 8, Abhilash Mallick (not out) 0; Extras (lb-3) 3
Total (8 wkts; 15 overs) 125
Fall of wickets: 1-33, 2-81, 3-92, 4-95, 5-95, 6-117, 7-118, 8-125
Bowling: Tushar Deshpande 2-0-19-0, Rohan Raje 3-0-16-3, Akash Parkar 2-0-19-1, Sidak Singh 3-0-34-0, Abhishek Raut 3-0-25-2, Jay Bista 2-0-9-0.
MUMBAI: SS Shaikh c Mangaraj b Patra 34, A Herwadkar c Podder b D Behera 0, J Bista c Rao b D Behera 0, Shashank Singh c Rao b Samantaray 21, S Chitnis b J Behera 16, A Raut c Mallick b Patra 5, Sufiyan Shaikh b Patra 11, R Raje b Patra 0, A Parkar (not out) 10, T Deshpande st Rao b Patra 0, Sidak Singh (run out) 0; Extras (lb-3, w 8) 11
Total (all out; 14.4 overs) 108
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-1, 3-44, 4-75, 5-84, 6-84, 7-85, 8-101, 9-101, 10-108
Bowling: Deepak Behera 2-0-9-2, Suryakant Pradhan 2-0-16-0, Alok Mangaraj 2-0-23-0, Biplab Samantaray 2.4-0-20-1, Jayanta Behera 3-0-19-1, Shesdeep Patra 3-0-18-5
GUJARAT TOO GOOD FOR JHARKHAND: Rohit Dahiya scalped three wickets for just seven runs to guide West Zone runners-up Gujarat to a six-wicket win over East Zone No 2 Jharkhand in another Group A match here. Jharkhand`s hapless batting turned the match into a lop-sided contest as they were skittled out for 78.
Brief score: Jharkhand 78 in 19.2 overs (Kushal Singh 18; Rohit Dahiya 3/7, Rush Kalaria 2/8, Jesal Karia 2/10, Jasprit Bumrah 2/22) lost to Gujarat 79/4 in 12.2 overs (Chirag Gandhi 22 n.o, Smit Patel 20; Rituraj Singh 2/16, Vikash Kumar 2/24) by 6 wkts.
PRASHANT SHINES FOR ANDHRA: Fine all-round show by Prasanth Kumar helped Andhra crush Himachal Pradesh by six wickets in their Group A match here at KIIT Cricket Ground. He picked up two for 39 and followed it with then scoring 46-ball 51 with the help of six fours and one six.
Brief score: Himachal Pradesh 122 in 20 overs (Prashant Chopra 43, Rishi Dhawan 37; C Stephen 2/14, B Ayyappa 2/19, D Prashanth 2/36) lost to Andhra 123/4 in 19.2 overs (D Prashanth 51, Ashwin Hebbar 44) by 6 wkts.
MANDEEP KNOCK SPURS PUNJAB: Mandeep Singh slammed a 43-ball 67 (8x4, 1x6) to power Punjab to a thrilling one-wicket win over Hyderabad in their Group B match at DRIEMS Stadium in Cuttack. Chama Milind put up impressive performance for Hyderabad, bagging four wickets for 24.
Brief score: Hyderabad 146/5 in 20 overs (Akshath Reddy 32, T Suman 31, Tanmay Agarwal 22, Hanuma Vihari 22; Siddharth Kaul 2/19) lost to Punjab 149/9 in 19.3 overs (Mandeep Singh 63; C Milind 4/24, Akash Bhandari 2/29, Ravi Kiran 2/28) by 1 wkt.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PHOTO: Shesdeep Patra (Left) and his Odisha teammates celebrate after dismissing a Mumbai batsman at DRIEMS Stadium on April 1, 2015.
