Ranji Trophy: Orissa rally to hold Maharashtra to draw

After conceding a first-innings lead of 102 runs, Orissa fought back to draw their four-day Ranji Trophy Super League Group-B match against Maharashtra on the last day at Pune Club Ground in Pune today. However, host Maharashtra took five points for taking first-innings lead, while Orissa settled with three points.

Opting to bat after skipper Sanjay Raul won the toss, Orissa mustered a respectable total of 245. Though Raul (45), Prasanta Mohapatra (43), Pravanjan Mullick (38) and Shahid Ali Khan (career-best 35 not out) got among runs, none could score a half-century.

In reply, Maharashtra rode on a century by Iqbal Siddiqui to pile up a total of 347. Among successful Orissa bowlers, P Jayachandra bagged a career-best five for 55, while Debasis Mohanty and Khan chipped in with a brace each.

Orissa displayed their true batting potential by making 375 in the second innings. As many as four batsmen hit a half-century each. Among them, Rashmi Ranjan Parida was the top scorers with an unbeaten 95 (193b, 13x4).

Pravanjan Mullick suffered a cramp when on 12 and had to retire hurt. But he made a brave return and went on to make 54. Shiv Sundar Das (69) and stumper Gautam Gopal (52) were other two half-century makers in the second innings.

Chasing a target of 274 for victory, Maharashtra were 76 for four in their second innings when the match was called off as draw. But before that, pacer Ajay Barik rattled the Maharashtra batting line-up capturing all the four wickets and reducing the home team to 49 for four.

SCORECARD (Orissa Match No 163):

ORISSA (1st innings):
Shiv Sundar Das c Bhave b Nair 4, P Jayachandra b Siddiqui 17, Pravanjan Mullick c Kondhalkar b Kulkarni 38, *Sanjay Raul c Kondhalkar b SS Godbole 45, Rashmi Ranjan Parida c Kondhalkar b Kulkarni 9, Pradip Das c Kondhalkar b Kulkarni 21, Prasanta Mohapatra lbw Nair 43, +Gautam Gopal b Nair 4, Debasis Mohanty c Sugwekar b Kulkarni 8, Shahid Khan not out 35, Ajay Barik run out (Kondhalkar) 0; Extras (b-1, lb-6, nb-12, w-2) 21
Total (all out, 69.5 overs) 245
Fall of wickets:
1-5 (SS Das, 0.3 ov), 2-67 (Jayachandra, 19.1 ov), 3-67 (Mullick, 20.5 ov), 4-80 (Parida, 26.6 ov), 5-134 (Raul, 40.5 ov), 6-184 (PK Das, 56.5 ov), 7-195 (Gopal, 59.4 ov), 8-207 (Mohapatra), 9-231 (Mohanty, 68.6 ov), 10-245 (Barik, 69.5 ov)
Maharashtra bowling: Nair 17-3-65-3, Kulkarni 21.5-7-44-4, Siddiqui 18-4-78-1, SS Godbole 6-2-22-1, Gokhale 7-1-29-0.

MAHARASHTRA (1st innings): *SS Bhave c SS Das b Khan 36, NA Godbole c Gopal b Mohanty 15, IR Siddiqui c Mohapatra b Mohanty 116, AV Kale c Raul b Khan 57, SS Sugwekar c Gopal b Jayachandra 0, SS Godbole b Jayachandra 9, JS Narse c Gopal b Jayachandra 33, +SM Kondhalkar b Jayachandra 22, M Gokhale not out 8, SB Nair b Jayachandra 1, MS Kulkarni c PK Das b Raul 14; Extras (b-4, lb-14, nb-18) 36
Total (all out, 135 overs) 347
Fall of wickets:
1-34 (NA Godbole, 15.6 ov), 2-84 (Bhave, 38.6 ov), 3-207 (Kale, 82.3 ov), 4-216 (Sugwekar, 87.1 ov), 5-230 (SS Godbole, 89.5 ov), 6-275 (Siddiqui, 105.6 ov), 7-323 (Narse, 121.6 ov), 8-324 (Kondhalkar, 125.1 ov), 9-332 (Nair, 131.4 ov), 10-347 (Kulkarni, 135 ov)
Orissa bowling: Mohanty 31-13-54-2, Barik 21-5-48-0, Jayachandra 23-3-55-5, Khan 36-7-101-2, Raul 16-3-48-1, Mullick 5-0-17-0, PK Das 3-0-6-0.

ORISSA (2nd innings): SS Das c Kondhalkar b Siddiqui 69, P Jayachandra b Kulkarni 3, PM Mullick c Kondhalkar b Nair 54, *SS Raul c Kondhalkar b Nair 14, PK Das b Nair 10, PR Mohapatra c Kondhalkar b Siddiqui 8, RR Parida not out 95, +G Gopal c Gokhale b Nair 52, SA Khan c Sugwekar b Kulkarni 4, DS Mohanty c sub (HA Kinikar) b Gokhale 5, A Barik c Narse b Kulkarni 25; Extras (b-11, lb-15, nb-9, w-1) 36
Total (all out, 118.2 overs) 375
Fall of wickets:
1-8 (Jayachandra, 3.5 ov), 2-49 (Raul, 17.5 ov), 3-86 (PK Das, 25.3 ov), 4-108 (Mohapatra, 37.5 ov), 5-154 (SS Das, 53.5 ov), 6-181 (Mullick, 65.6 ov), 7-277 (Gopal, 95.3 ov), 8-286 (Khan, 100.3 ov), 9-319 (Mohanty, 109.2 ov), 10-375 (Barik, 118.2 ov)
Maharashtra bowling: Nair 37-7-116-4, Kulkarni 28.2-11-56-3, Siddiqui 28-5-97-2, SS Godbole 7-1-25-0, Gokhale 13-2-38-1, Sugwekar 2-0-8-0, NA Godbole 2-0-8-0, Bhave 1-0-1-0.

MAHARASHTRA (2nd innings): JS Narse not out 35, NA Godbole c Gopal b Barik 0, AV Kale c SS Das b Barik 18, +SM Kondhalkar b Barik 3, *SS Bhave b Barik 1, IR Siddiqui not out 14; Extras (lb-2, nb-3) 5
Total (4 wickets, 26 overs) 76
Fall of wickets:
1-8 (NA Godbole, 1.4 ov), 2-33 (Kale, 7.2 ov), 3-43 (Kondhalkar, 9.4 ov), 4-49 (Bhave, 15.3 ov)
Orissa bowling: Mohanty 6-1-20-0, Barik 11-1-32-4, Jayachandra 5-3-5-0, Khan 4-1-17-0.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PHOTO: Undated file photo of Orissa allrounder P Jayachandra.

Comments