Ranji Trophy: Prasad, Biswal dazzle in Orissa win

Career-best haul of nine for 52 by Sushil Kumar Prasad and a majestic century by Ranjib Biswal propelled Orissa to an innings and 197-run win over Tripura on the penultimate day of their four-day Ranji Trophy East Zone match at Polytechnic Institute Ground in Agartala today.

The emphatic win fetched Orissa 23 points, while host Tripura settled with two points. This was 18th overall win in 116 first-class matches for Orissa and fifth in six matches against Tripura. This was also ninth overall innings victory for Orissa in first-class cricket and fifth against Tripura.

Opting to bat, Tripura folded up for 119 with Prasad and Biswal bagging six and three wickets respectively for Orissa. In reply, Orissa rode on a career-best 160 (251b, 12x4, 1x6) by Biswal and a half-century by Amiya Ray to compile a massive total of 460.

This was the first century for Biswal in first-class cricket. Soumitra Chowdhury, captain Asjit Jayaprakasham, Biswajit Mohanty, Harmohan Praharaj and Abinasha Khatua also made notable contributions for the visitors.

After conceding a first-innings lead of 341 runs, Tripura were bundled out for 144 in the second innings to suffer the massive defeat. Prasad single-handedly destroyed the Tripura innings, capturing nine wickets for 52 runs. He finished with a match haul of 15 wickets for 89 runs.

SCORECARD (Orissa Match No 116):

TRIPURA (1st innings): VK Mehra c Bose b Mohapatra 7, RP Chaudhuri c Bose b Kumar Prasad 11, S Lahiri c Ray b Biswal 6, S Paul b Kumar Prasad 0, R Deb Burman c Chowdhury b Biswal 44, S Dasgupta b Kumar Prasad 1, A Das c Das b Kumar Prasad 23, +T Sinha c Ray b Biswal 3, *A Saha b Kumar Prasad 0, S Banerjee c Khatua b Kumar Prasad 5, AS Sodha not out 3; Extras (b-1, lb-3, nb-11, w-1) 16
Total (all out, 67 overs) 119
Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-34, 3-34, 4-34, 5-35, 6-107, 7-111, 8-111, 9-111, 10-119
Orissa bowling: Praharaj 6-1-13-0, Mohapatra 9-2-29-1, Kumar Prasad 28-15-37-6, Biswal 21-7-29-3, Khatua 3-0-7-0.

ORISSA (1st innings): Soumitra Chowdhury c Sinha b Chaudhuri 42, Biswajit Mohanty c & b Deb Burman 39, +Pannalal Bose c Sinha b Banerjee 5, Sritam Das c Sinha b Sodha 13, Amiya Ray c Deb Burman b Das 51, Ranjib Biswal c Deb Burman b Banerjee 160, *Asjit Jaiprakasham c Banerjee b Saha 47, Abinasha Khatua c Sinha b Das 26, Harmohan Praharaj not out 28, Sushil Kumar Prasad c Dasgupta b Deb Burman 7, Sourajit Mohapatra b Deb Burman 0; Extras (b-20, lb-17, nb-1, w-4) 42
Total (all out, 139 overs) 460
Fall of wickets: 1-83, 2-92, 3-108, 4-123, 5-210, 6-326, 7-414, 8-426, 9-460, 10-460
Tripura bowling: Saha 24-6-59-1, Banerjee 32-4-80-2, Deb Burman 23-3-63-3, Sodha 17-2-79-1, Das 30-4-73-2, Chaudhuri 10-2-43-1, Mehra 1-0-10-0, Dasgupta 2-0-16-0.

TRIPURA (2nd innings): VK Mehra b Kumar Prasad 12, RP Chaudhuri b Kumar Prasad 40, S Dasgupta c Bose b Kumar Prasad 0, S Lahiri c Ray b Biswal 11, S Paul c Jaiprakasham b Kumar Prasad 28, R Deb Burman lbw Kumar Prasad 1, A Das not out 18, +T Sinha c Ray b Kumar Prasad 9, *A Saha c Bose b Kumar Prasad 0, S Banerjee c & b Kumar Prasad 4, AS Sodha b Kumar Prasad 5; Extras (b-9, lb-1, nb-6) 16
Total (all out, 74 overs) 144
Fall of wickets: 1-33, 2-45, 3-89, 4-105, 5-105, 6-105, 7-122, 8-126, 9-134, 10-144
Orissa bowling: Praharaj 5-4-2-0, Mohapatra 6-2-13-0, Kumar Prasad 32-8-52-9, Biswal 22-7-40-1, Khatua 4-1-19-0, Ray 2-0-5-0, Chowdhury 2-1-2-0, Jaiprakasham 1-0-1-0.
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PHOTO: Undated file picture of Orissa allrounder Ranjib Biswal.