Ranji Trophy: Jena guides Orissa to first draw vs Bengal

Orissa achieved a notable feat in cricket by forcing formidable Bengal to a draw for the first time in Ranji Trophy today. The draw was a sort of victory for Orissa as it came after 11 defeats in a row, including eight by an innings since the two East Zone teams met each other for the first time in 1953.

The feat assumed added importance as it happened at the Eden Gardens in Calcutta, the mecca of cricket and the den of Bengal. The home team, however, salvaged some pride by garnering five points for taking first-innings lead, while Orissa contended themselves with three points.

Put into bat, Orissa accumulated a respectable total of 231. In reply, Bengal compiled 335, which gave them a lead of 104 runs. In the second innings, Orissa made 207 and set a daunting target for Bengal to chase 104 in eight overs and clinch victory. The home team, of course, made a bold attempt, but could make 75 for three eventually.

Ashokananda Jena was the star of the memorable match for Orissa, hitting 62 in the first innings and unbeaten 95 in the second. DS Murthy was another notable performer for Orissa, bagging three wickets in each innings and scoring 45 valuable runs, including an unbeaten 31 in the first innings.

SCOREBOARD (Orissa Ranji Match No 30):

ORISSA (1st innings): Sasanka Sekhar Patnaik b Goswami 19, KN Patra run out 33, +Bisuddhananda Jena c Mitra b Ghoshal 11, Madan Mohan Mohanty c & b Ghoshal 11, *Lalat Indu Parija b Ghoshal 1, NN Swamy c Mukherjee b Mitter 21, Arun Patel c Dhar b Goswami 22, Ashokananda Jena c Goswami b Ghoshal 62, SS Misra b Sarkar 5, Kanak Patel run out 3, DS Murthy not out 31; Extras 12
Total (all out, 99.1 overs) 231
Fall of wickets: 1-51, 2-67, 3-69, 4-79, 5-92, 6-108, 7-131, 8-140, 9-160, 10-231
Bengal bowling: Mukherjee 19-3-48-0, Mitra 6-1-21-0, Goswami 28-8-56-2, Ghoshal 20.1-7-38-4, Mitter 13-4-27-1, Sarkar 12-4-24-1, AK Roy 1-0-5-0.

BENGAL (1st innings): S Guha Thakurta c Mohanty b A Patel 41, T Roy c Misra b Murthy 18, AK Roy c Patnaik b A Patel 30, *P Roy c Misra b Murthy 41, SS Mitra run out 47, S Goswami c Misra b Murthy 8, K Mitter b Swamy 9, SN Ghoshal c Misra b Patra 82, +MG Dhar lbw b Swamy 18, J Sarkar run out 17, DS Mukherjee not out 12; Extras (9-b, 3-lb) 12
Total (all out, 108.1 overs) 335
Fall of wickets: 1-35, 2-89, 3-90, 4-185, 5-191, 6-196, 7-208, 8-234, 9-292, 10-335
Orissa bowling: Swamy 40-7-101-2, A Patel 26-5-91-2, Murthy 33-5-94-3, Patra 7.1-1-24-1, K Patel 2-0-13-0.

ORISSA (2nd innings): SS Patnaik c Sarkar b Goswami 6, KN Patra c Dhar b Goswami 1, +B Jena b Mukherjee 19, MM Mohanty c T Roy b Mukherjee 8, A Jena not out 95, NN Swamy c AK Roy b Goswami 21, A Patel c & b Mitter 24, *LI Parija lbw T Roy 5, SS Misra lbw Mitter 0, K Patel st Dhar b T Roy 0, DS Murthy b Mukherjee 14; Extras 14
Total (all out, 96.2 overs) 207
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-7, 3-33, 4-37, 5-77, 6-146, 7-167, 8-168, 9-172, 10-207
Bengal bowling: Mukherjee 20.2-5-49-3, Mitra 2-1-11-0, Goswami 20-8-34-3, Ghoshal 14-6-30-0, Mitter 17-9-30-2, Sarkar 11-7-8-0, AK Roy 2-1-5-0, T Roy 10-3-26-2.

BENGAL (2nd innings): K Mitter c Mohanty b Murthy 24, S Guha Thakurta c & b Murthy 7, AK Roy not out 35, +MG Dhar b Murthy 6, SN Ghoshal not out 2; Extras 1
Total (3 wickets, 8 overs) 75
Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-48, 3-71
Orissa bowling: Swamy 4-0-30-0, Murthy 4-0-44-3.
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PHOTO: File photo of Orissa batsman Ashokananda Jena.