CUTTACK 23-Oct-1979
East Zone caused a major upset, defeating mighty Australia by four wickets on the last day of their three-day match at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack today. Led by Orissa batsman Rabi Narayan Panda, East Zone team featured two more players in Anil Bhardwaj and Paramjit Singh.
Led by Kim Hughes, Australia paid heavy price by taking East Zone team lightly. It was a glorious victory for East Zone, considering the fact that they beat Australia despite conceding first-innings lead.
The overconfident Aussies, who opted to bat after winnings the toss, made the first mistake by declaring their first innings at 160 for five. Stumper Graham Yallop was their top scorer with an unbeaten 81. For East Zone, Subroto Porel and Paramjit Singh picked up two wickets each.
Australial, of course, did well in bowing by dismissing the home team for 126. Aloke Bhattacharjee and Hari Gidwan helped East Zone manage a 100-plus total, hitting 55 and 31 respectively. Rodney Hogg was most successful Australia bowler, capturing three wickets for 4 runs.
After taking a 34-run first-innings lead, Aussies committed another blunder by declaring their second innings at 119 for eight. Porel rocked the visitors batting line-up, bagging four wickets for 47 runs. He finished with a match haul of six for 90.
Capitalising on the opposition mistakes, East Zone clinched victory, overhauling a target of 154, losing six wickets in the process. Bihar batsman Subroto Das capped the memorable win with an unbeaten knock of 62.
SCORECARD:
AUSTRALIA (1st innings): GM Wood b Porel 5, +GN Yallop not out 81, AR Border b Porel 19, *KJ Hughes lbw Sinha 8, DF Whatmore c Ghosh b Paramjit Singh 30, PR Sleep st Ghosh b Paramjit Singh 1, RM Hogg not out 5, GD Porter DNB, GF Lawson DNB, G Dymock DNB, JD Higgs DNB; Extras (6-b, 2-lb, 3-nb) 11
Total (5 wickets, declared, 45 overs) 160
Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-50, 3-74, 4-122, 5-136
East Zone bowling: Sinha 13-5-38-1, Porel 12-1-43-2, Bhattacharjee 14-1-44-0, Paramjit Singh 6-0-24-2.
EAST ZONE (1st innings): *Rabi Narayan Panda c Porter b Dymock 1, S Das lbw Hogg 0, Hari Gidwani st Yallop b Higgs 31, M Dalvi c Yallop b Lawson 3, RC Saxena lbw Lawson 0, Anil Bhardwaj c Lawson b Higgs 1, +P Ghosh b Whatmore 7, Aloke Bhattacharjee b Hogg 55, Paramjit Singh c Hogg b Border 14, A Sinha b Hogg 0, SK Porel not out 2; Extras (2-b, 5-lb, 4-nb, 1-w) 12
Total (all out, 50.2 overs) 126
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-10, 3-17, 4-17, 5-27, 6-50, 7-69, 8-124, 9-124, 10-126
Australia bowling: Hogg 5-2-4-3, Lawson 8-7-1-2, Dymock 7-2-16-1, Higgs 11-3-42-2, Porter 11-2-29-0, Border 2.2-0-3-1, Whatmore 1-1-0-1, Sleep 3-0-15-0, Wood 2-0-4-0.
AUSTRALIA (2nd innings): GM Wood lbw Porel 5, +GN Yallop b Sinha 21, AR Border b Porel 44, *KJ Hughes c Saxena b Porel 3, DF Whatmore run out 19, PR Sleep b Porel 5, RM Hogg c Bhardwaj b Paramjit Singh 13, GD Porter not out 3, GF Lawson b Bhattacharjee 3; Extras (2-lb, 1-nb) 3
Total (8 wickets, declared, 25.4 overs) 119
Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-58, 3-69, 4-78, 5-94, 6-94, 7-110, 8-119
East Zone bowling: Sinha 5-0-36-1, Porel 10-0-47-4, Bhattacharjee 2.4-0-5-1, Paramjit Singh 8-1-28-1.
EAST ZONE (2nd innings): *RN Panda c Hughes b Lawson 1, S Das not out 62, H Gidwani c Yallop b Dymock 29, M Dalvi lbw Porter 19, A Bhardwaj lbw Dymock 0, RC Saxena lbw Higgs 21, +P Ghosh c Yallop b Higgs 0, A Bhattacharjee not out 14, Paramjit Singh DNB, A Sinha DNB, SK Porel DNB; Extras (6-b, 2-lb, 2-nb) 10
Total (6 wickets, 52.3 overs) 156
Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-49, 3-76, 4-81, 5-139, 6-141
Australia bowling: Hogg 8-2-25-0, Lawson 7-2-22-1, Dymock 17-2-55-2, Higgs 5-1-5-2, Porter 10-3-25-1, Border 5-2-10-0, Whatmore 0.3-0-4-0.
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PHOTO: File picture of East Zone and Bengal bowler Subroto Porel.
