Ranji Trophy: Orissa squander winning opportunity

Orissa squandered opportunity to beat Bihar in their three-day East Zone Ranji Trophy match, which ended in a draw on the last day at Hazaribagh Stadium in Hazaribagh today. Orissa, however, profited by 10 points for taking first-innings lead, while host Bihar contended themselves with six points.

A brilliant first-innings haul of eight wickets for 22 runs by left-arm spinner Sushil Kumar Prasad helped Orissa bowl out Bihar for 99 after the latter won the toss and elected to bat. In reply, Orissa made 155 to secure a first-innings lead of 56 runs.

Bihar mustered 222 in the second innings, thanks to half-century by Pradeep Khanna. Sushil Prasad added to two more victims to his tally and finished with a match haul of 10 wickets for 77 runs. Amiya Ray was most successful Orissa bowler in the second innings, taking three wickets for 67 runs.

Victory seemed achievable when Orissa started chasing a target of 167 in the second innings. But instead of showing aggression in their batting, they played safe and eventually settled with the draw. When the match ended, Orissa were 85 for three with opener Soumitra Choudhury unbeaten on 48. Orissa opening batsman Biswajit Mohanty and allrounder Rajesh Singh made first-class debut in this match.

SCORECARD (Orissa Match No 107):

BIHAR (1st innings): P Khanna b Kumar Prasad 27, A Dayal c Mohanty b Saudagar 27, H Gidwani b Kumar Prasad 0, *BS Gossain b Kumar Prasad 9, A Hussain st Bose b Saudagar 9, +SS Karim c Ray b Kumar Prasad 0, SK Singh c Bose b Kumar Prasad 8, V Venkatram c Rajesh Singh b Kumar Prasad 8, Avinash Kumar c Bose b Kumar Prasad 0, Randhir Singh not out 7, KVP Rao b Kumar Prasad 0; Extras (b-3, lb-1) 4
Total (all out, 60.1 overs) 99
Fall of wickets: 1-46, 2-46, 3-62, 4-68, 5-71, 6-83, 7-91, 8-92, 9-93, 10-99
Orissa bowling: Mohapatra 9-0-25-0, Rajesh Singh 7-1-21-0, Kumar Prasad 23.1-12-22-8, Saudagar 21-7-27-2.

ORISSA (1st innings): Soumitra Chowdhury b Venkatram 28, Biswajit Mohanty b Venkatram 19, *Asjit Jaiprakasham c Venkatram b Hussain 30, Sushil Kumar Prasad c SK Singh b Avinash Kumar 17, Devasish Mahanti lbw Randhir Singh 16, Amiya Ray lbw Hussain 7, Abinasha Khatua c SK Singh b Avinash Kumar 0, Rajesh Singh c Karim b Venkatram 8, +Pannalal Bose not out 5, Sourajit Mohapatra b Avinash Kumar 4, Mahipal Saudagar c SK Singh b Venkatram 1; Extras (b-11, lb-9) 20
Total (all out, 115.2 overs) 155
Fall of wickets: 1-37, 2-52, 3-78, 4-108, 5-133, 6-134, 7-138, 8-146, 9-152, 10-155
Bihar bowling: Randhir Singh 10-2-25-1, SK Singh 4-0-11-0, Venkatram 32.2-17-33-4, Avinash Kumar 45-29-33-3, Rao 10-4-13-0, Gidwani 3-1-10-0, Dayal 1-1-0-0, Hussain 10-5-10-2.

BIHAR (2nd innings): P Khanna st Bose b Saudagar 56, A Dayal c Chowdhury b Jaiprakasham 15, H Gidwani c Mohanty b Ray 30, *BS Gossain c Ray b Kumar Prasad 6, A Hussain run out 31, +SS Karim c Mohanty b Ray 10, SK Singh c Ray b Kumar Prasad 0, Randhir Singh run out 16, V Venkatram st Bose b Ray 39, Avinash Kumar run out 7, KVP Rao not out 1; Extras (b-4, lb-7) 11
Total (all out, 102 overs) 222
Fall of wickets: 1-46, 2-91, 3-111, 4-111, 5-128, 6-129, 7-169, 8-180, 9-204, 10-222
Orissa bowling: Mohapatra 4-0-12-0, Rajesh Singh 2-0-12-0, Kumar Prasad 26-8-55-2, Saudagar 32-12-58-1, Ray 34-9-67-3, Jaiprakasham 4-2-7-1.

ORISSA (2nd innings): S Chowdhury not out 48, B Mohanty c Gidwani b Randhir Singh 0, Rajesh Singh c Karim b Venkatram 16, S Kumar Prasad lbw Avinash Kumar 10, D Mahanti not out 6, M Saudagar DNB, S Mohapatra DNB, +P Bose DNB, A Khatua DNB,  A Ray DNB, *A Jaiprakasham DNB; Extras (b-2, lb-2, nb-1) 5
Total (3 wickets, 40 overs) 85
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-32, 3-73
Bihar bowling: Randhir Singh 5-0-15-1, Venkatram 14-2-26-1, Avinash Kumar 13-4-21-1, Rao 2-0-8-0, Gidwani 1-1-0-0, Dayal 2-0-2-0, Hussain 3-1-9-0.
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PHOTO: File picture of Orissa left-arm spinner Sushil Kumar Prasad.