28-Dec-1999
Host Orissa rode on a glorious batting feat by Pravanjan Mullick to secure five points by virtue of first-innings lead against Bengal in their four-day Ranji Trophy East Zone match, which ended in a draw on the last day at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack today.
Mullick became the first Orissa cricketer to score four successive centuries in Ranji Trophy matches. The Bhubaneswar batsman, who had slammed 113 and 100 not out in a super league match against Delhi in March this year, continued his run of success, hitting 108 and unbeaten 111 against Bengal.
Opting to bat after captain Shiv Sundar Das won the toss, Orissa compiled a healthy total of 370, which featured a third-wicket partnership of 133 runs between Mullick and Sanjay Raul. Showing fine skill and temperament on green-wicket and against quality pace attack, Mullick hit 10 boundaries and one six in his 246-ball knock of 108.
Apart from Mullick, skppper Das (81, 171b, 7x4), Raul (53, 167b, 6x4) and P Jayachandra (64, 119b, 4x4, 2x6) contributed a half-century each to put the home team in strong position. Laxmi Ratan Shukla was most successful Bengal bowler, pocketing six wickets for 86 runs.
In reply, Bengal made 275, thanks to a century by Rohan Gavaskar (115). Pacer Ajay Barik and left-arm spinner Jagannath Das bowled beautifully for Orissa, bagging four and three wickets respectively. After taking a 95-run first-innings lead, Orissa compounded the plight of Bengal by mustering another sizeable score in the second innings.
When play stopped due to bad light on the final day, Orissa were at 336 for five and Mullick going strong on 111 (219b, 13x4, 1x6). Das and Raul joined the run feast, notching up a half-century each in the second innings as well. Das cracked 82 off 156 balls with the help of 11 fours and one six, while Raul hit a 54-ball 52, which included seven boundaries and two sixes. A battered and bruised Bengal salvaged three points from this match.
SCORECARD (Orissa Match No 168):
ORISSA (1st innings): *Shiv Sundar Das b Shukla 81, BBCC Mohapatra c Dasgupta b Shukla 3, Pravanjan Mullick lbw Shukla 108, Sanjay Raul c Dasgupta b Panda 53, ashmi Ranjan Parida lbw Shukla 0, P Jayachandra not out 64, Robin Morris c Dasgupta b Shukla 0, +Gautam Gopal c Lahiri b Chatterjee 16, Sanjay Satpathy lbw Majumder 18, Jagannath Das lbw Chatterjee 0, Ajay Barik c sub b Shukla 0; Extras (b-12, lb-3, nb-6, w-6) 27
Total (all out, 145 overs) 370
Fall of wickets: 1-52 (Mohapatra, 25.3 ov), 2-132 (SS Das, 48.5 ov), 3-263 (Raul, 103.4 ov), 4-268 (Parida, 106.1 ov), 5-273 (Mullick, 114.1 ov), 6-273 (Morris, 114.3 ov), 7-294 (Gopal, 121.3 ov), 8-348 (Satpathy, 138.5 ov), 9-349 (JP Das, 139.3 ov), 10-370 (Barik, 145 ov)
Bengal bowling: Shukla 32-7-86-6, Panda 33-13-70-1, Chatterjee 55-14-122-2, Majumder 16-2-52-1, Das 9-1-25-0.
BENGAL(1st innings): NL Haldipur c Gopal b Barik 15, +DB Dasgupta c Raul b Barik 1, AA Lahiri b Barik 24, SJ Kalyani c Barik b Jayachandra 2, SS Karim c Satpathy b Morris 6, RS Gavaskar c Raul b JP Das 115, AK Das lbw Barik 8, *US Chatterjee lbw Satpathy 34, WP Majumder c Mohapatra b JP Das 4, LR Shukla c Jayachandra b JP Das 29, S Panda not out 15; Extras (b-11, nb-11) 22
Total (all out, 79.2 overs) 275
Fall of wickets: 1-9 (Dasgupta, 2.4 ov), 2-17 (Haldipur, 4.5 ov), 3-32 (Kalyani, 9.4 ov), 4-61 (Karim, 21.4 ov), 5-61 (Lahiri, 22.1 ov), 6-145 (Das, 46.3 ov), 7-207 (Chatterjee, 57.6 ov), 8-224 (Majumder, 66.5 ov), 9-233 (Gavaskar, 70.3 ov), 10-275 (Shukla, 79.2 ov)
Orissa bowling: Barik 23-4-83-4, Morris 13-2-31-1, Jayachandra 13-2-36-1, Satpathy 15-2-64-1, JP Das 9.2-3-30-3, Raul 6-0-20-0.
ORISSA (2nd innings): *SS Das c Majumder b Gavaskar 82, BBCC Mohapatra c Haldipur b Panda 25, PM Mullick not out 111, SS Raul st Dasgupta b Majumder 52, RR Parida st Dasgupta b Majumder 29, SK Satpathy c Das b Majumder 14, RF Morris not out 4; Extras (b-6, lb-4, nb-9) 19
Total (5 wickets, 90 overs) 336
Fall of wickets: 1-35 (Mohapatra, 11.2 ov), 2-181 (SS Das, 49.4 ov), 3-277 (Raul, 67.6 ov), 4-312 (Parida, 73.1 ov), 5-330 (Satpathy, 83.5 ov)
Bengal bowling: Shukla 5-2-14-0, Panda 21-4-82-1, Chatterjee 20-8-50-0, Majumder 27-6-110-3, Das 9-1-30-0, Gavaskar 8-0-40-1.
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PHOTO: Undated file photo of Orissa batsman Pravanjan Mullick.
