BHUBANESWAR 16-Nov-2016
Odisha gained three points by virtue of taking a first-innings lead of 158 runs against Assam in their four-day Ranji Trophy Group-B match, which ended in a draw at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad today. Assam were 164 for four in the second innings on the last day when the match came to an end.
Earlier, in reply to a respectable first-innings total of 301 by Assam, Odisha declared at the overnight score of 459 for seven. The highlight of the Assam second innings was a half-century by opening batsman Rishav Das. Left-arm spinner Dhiraj Singh picked up two wickets for Odisha. Odisha captain Govind Poddar was adjudged player of the match for his career-best knock of 225.
This was the fifth match for Odisha, who now occupy the fifth position in the group table with 12 points. They have so far won one game and drawn four. Odisha will next play table-topper Karnataka at Delhi from November 21 to 24.
Odisha captain Govind Poddar and Biplab Samantray put up impressive performance in the match against Assam, scoring a maiden first-class double hundred and fifth first-class century respectively. Poddar was the star of the match with a majestic knock of 225, which came off 518 balls and was studded with 21 boundaries and two sixes. In the process he bettered his previous highest of 153.
Poddar and Samantray consolidated the innings with a formidable partnership of 163 runs for the fifth wicket. Samantray slammed 103 (283 balls) with the help of seven hits to the rope. Odisha Cricket Association Hony Secretary Asirbad Behera congratulated Poddar for his brillian knock and announced a cash award of Rs 50,000 for the batsman.
Earlier electing to bat, Assam were in trouble, losing three wickets for 37 runs. But a maiden first-class hundred Kunal by Saikia and a half-century by K Arun Karthik helped them overcome the crisis. Basant Mohanty and Suryakant Pradhan bagged three wickets each for Odisha, while Samantray picked up a brace.
Odisha made two changes in the team that drew their previous match against Rajasthan at Mohali. Vice-captain Basant Mohanty returned to the team after missing the last match due to injury. He replaced Alok Mangaraj. Opening batsman Abinash Saha made his first-class debut for Odisha, replacing Ranjit Singh, who became injured during practice.
SCOREBOARD:
ASSAM (1st innings): Rishav Das c Poddar b Pradhan 1, Rahul Hazarika b Pradhan 0, Sibsankar Roy (run out) 37, Amit Verma c Rawat b Mohanty 22, Kunal Saikia c Yadav b Samantray 135, K Arun Karthick lbw Mohanty 62, Arup Das c Rawat b Mohanty 3, Syed Mohammed (run out) 5, Sarupam Purkayastha c Mohanty b Pradhan 1, Abu Nechim Ahmed c&b Samantray 20, Krishna Das (not out) 0; Extras (nb-4, w-4, b-4, lb-4) 16
Total (All out; 121.5 overs) 301
Fall of wickets: 1-2 (R Das, 1.2 ov), 2-7 (R Hazarika, 3.5 ov), 3-37 (A Verma, 19.1 ov), 4-93 (S Roy, 44.3 ov), 5-224 (KA Karthick, 88.4 ov), 6-232 (A Das , 94.3 ov), 7-238 (S Mohammed, 98.1 ov), 8-247 (Purkayastha, 101.5 ov), 9-295 (AN Ahmed, 119.5 ov), 10-301 (K Saikia, 121.5 ov)
Bowling: Basant Mohanty 24-13-18-3, Suryakant Pradhan 29-7-90-3, Deepak Behera 18-3-49-0, Biplab Samantaray 15.5-2-41-2, Dhiraj Singh 16-3-57-0, Govinda Poddar 19-3-38-0
ODISHA (1st innings): Sandeep Pattanaik lbw A Das 1, Abinash Saha c Saikia b K Das 26, Govinda Poddar c Karthik b Ahmed 225, Subhransu Senapati b A Das 34, Abhishek Yadav b Mohammad 29, Biplab Samantray b A Das 103, Saurabh Rawat (run out) 2, Deepak Behera (not out) 28, Suryakant Pradhan (not out) 2; Extras (nb-1, w-3, lb-5) 9
Total (7 wickets decl; 148 overs) 459
Fall of wickets: 1-12 (S Pattanaik, 4.5 ov), 2-68 (A Saha, 25.4 ov), 3-151 (Senapati, 57.4 ov), 4-217 (A Yadav, 76.4 ov), 5-380 (Poddar, 126.4 ov), 6-401 (S Rawat, 133.2 ov), 7-452 (Samantaray, 146.5 ov)
Bowling: Arup Das 21-2-60-3, Krishna Das 28-3-81-1, Abu Nechim Ahmed 23-2-71-1, Syed Mohammed 33-3-98-1, Sarupam Purkayastha 29-2-107-0, Amit Verma 14-1-37-0.
ASSAM (2nd innings): Rishav Das lbw Poddar 68, Rahul Hazarika cRawat b Mohanty 23, Sibsankar Roy lbw D Singh 39, Amit Verma c Pattanaik b D Singh 1, Kunal Saikia (not out) 6, K B Arun Karthick (not out) 10; Extras (nb-6, w-2, b-6, lb-3) 17
Total (4 wickets; 75 overs) 164
Fall of wickets: 1-41 (Hazarika, 17.2 ov), 2-112 (S Roy, 46.6 ov), 3-142 (A Verma, 62.2 ov), 4-152 (R Das, 69.2 ov)
Bowling: Basant Mohanty 16-4-32-1, Suryakant Pradhan 11.1-3-35-0, Deepak Behera 9-2-25-0, Dhiraj Singh 20-9-27-2, Biplab Samantaray 3-1-2-0, Govinda Poddar 14-7-33-1, Saurabh Rawat 1.5-0-1-0
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PHOTO: File photo of Odisha skipper Govind Poddar.
