BHUBANESWAR 05-Aug-2015
A career-best unbeaten 162 by opening batsman Girija Rout helped Odisha draw their four-day match against Himachal Pradesh in the Dr Capt K Thimmappiah Memorial All-India Cricket Tournament at Alur in Bangalore today. Trailing by 105 runs in the first innings, Odisha rode on majestic knock by Rout to declare their second innings at 386 for seven. Set with an impossible target of 282 for victory, Himachal ended up with 64 for two.
Rout, who top-scored with 51 in the first innings, hit 14 boundaries in his 425-ball effort in the second essay. He put on 117 runs for the fourth wicket with Aravind Singh and added another 129 for the fifth wicket with captain Biplab Samantray. Aravind slammed a biligerent 69 (98b, 8x4, 2x6), while Samantray made 51 (159b, 6x4).
Earlier, half-century each by Prashant Chopra and Ankit Kalsi enabled Himachal Pradesh compile a healthy total of 308, in reply to a modest first-innings score of 203 by Odisha. Opener Chopra, who top scored with 62, continued his good form to remain unbeaten with 50 in the second innings. On a spin-friendly track, the Odisha`s pace-heavy bowling attack struggled throughout the day. However, Jayant Behera, the only full-time spinner in the team, proved highly successful, bagging six wickets for 99 runs, his career-best haul.
Electing to bat, Odisha got off to a decent start with Rout and Prateek Das compiling 54 runs for the opening wicket. But their hope to muster a big total was spoiled by young off-spinner Ankush Bedi, who achieved his career-best success, bagging six wickets for 71 runs. All-rounder Alok Chandra Sahoo hit a 70-ball 33 to help Odisha post a 200-plus total.
Odisha made three changes in the side that suffered innings defeat in their previous match against KSCA XI, bringing in middle-order batsmen Arvind Singh, wicket-keeper Ansuman Gope and pace spearhead Basant Mohanty in place of Abhilash Mallick, Rajesh Dhuper and allrounder Paresh Patel. Overall, Odisha put up decent performance in the tournament, which was their first of the current season. They won one match, lost one and drew one to finish with seven points.
SCOREBOARD
ODISHA (1st innings): Girija Rout b Vasist 51, Prateek Das lbw Bedi 31, Govind Poddar c Sharma b Bedi 16, Anurag Sarangi c Bhalaik b Jaiswal 9, Aravind Singh c Bhalaik b Abhinay 14, Biplab Samantray c Kalsi b Bedi 4, Anshuman Gope b Bedi 15, Alok Sahoo c Chopra b Bedi 33, Suryakant Pradhan st Bhalaik b Vasist 9, Basant Mohanty b Bedi 1, Jayant Behera (not out) 0; Extras (b-8, lb-2, nb-10) 20
Total (all out; 78.1 overs) 203
Fall of wickets: 1-54, 2-80, 3-97, Aravind Singh 4-129, 5-137, 6-137, 7-158, 8-177, 9-190, 10-203
Bowling: Kanwar Abhinay 14-2-27-1, Pankaj Jaiswal 14-2-37-1, Ankush Bedi 25.1-4-71-6, Akash Vasist 23-5-53-2, Sumeet Verma 2-0-5-0
HIMACHAL PRADESH (1st innings): Prashant Chopra c Gope b Poddar 62, Varun Sharma lbw Sahoo 0, Amit Kumar Dhiman c Pradhan b Behera 45, Sumeet Verma c Gope b Behera 27, Ankit Kalsi c Gope b Behera 51, Vikrant Kumar lbw Behera 28, Aatish Bhalaik c Poddar b Behera 21, Akash Vasist (not out) 45, Ankush Bedi lbw Behera 0, Pankaj Jaiswal b Sahoo 24, Kanwar Abhinay b Sahoo 0; Extras (lb-4, nb-1) 5
Total (all out; 101 overs) 308
Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-84, 3-136, 4-136, 5-203, 6-238, 7-245, 8-245, 9-304, 10-308
Bowling: Basant Mohanty 15-2-40-0, Suryakant Pradhan 10-2-32-0, Alok Sahoo 19-1-69-3, Jayant Behera 37-10-99-6, Govind Poddar 16-4-51-1, Prateek Das 2-0-11-0, Biplab Samantray 2-0-2-0.
ODISHA (2nd innings): G Rout (not out) 162, P Das lbw Abhinay 1, A Sarangi c Sharma b Bedi 7, G Poddar c Verma b Bedi 14, A Singh c Jaiswal b Vasist 69, B Samantray c Jaiswal b Vasist 51, A Gope c Bhalaik b Abhinay 1, A Sahoo st Bhalaik b Bedi 16, S Pradhan (not out) 27; Extras (b-23, lb-3, nb-12) 38
Total (7 wkts decl; 139 overs) 386
Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-38, 3-78, 4-195, 5-324, 6-325, 7-352
Bowling: K Abhinay 29-11-67-2, P Jaiswal 19-6-35-0, A Vasist 47-11-101-2, A Badi 35-10-121-3, S Verma 8-0-29-0, A Kalsi 1-0-7-0.
HIMACHAL PRADESH (2nd innings): P Chopra (not out) 50, V Sharma lbw Pradhan 1, S Verma lbw Behera 4, A Dhiman (not out) 5; Extras (lb-3, nb-1) 4
Total (2 wkts; 20 overs) 64
Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-35
Bowling: B Mohanty 5-0-14-0, S Pradhan 7-4-16-1, J Behera 6-0-26-1, A Sahoo 2-0-5-0.
