Das keeps Orissa hope alive

Host Orissa and opponents Hyderabad fought hard but failed to take upperhand on the second day of their Elite Group-A Ranji match at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack today. Replying to Hyderabad`s first innings total of 296, Orissa reached 150 for three at the end of the day with skipper Shiv Sundar Das batting on 75 and night-watchman Preetamjeet Das giving him company on six. Resuming at the overnight score of 228 for five, the visitors failed to compile a big total as the bottom half of the batting line-up was sent back in addition of 68 runs. Only Abhinab Kumar survived the slump, making an unbeaten 99, which included 13 boundaries. Orissa pace bowlers proved themselves a formidable force, bagging all but one wicket in the innings. Debasis Mohanty, Preetamjeet Das and Basant Mohanty shared the nine wickets among themselves. Basant had the chance to achieve a hat-trick but was denied by Pragyan Ojha. Abhinab Kumar was unlucky to miss a century as his attempt to get a quick second run resulted in last-man Ashwin Yadav getting run out off a Paresh Patel throw. The home side than laid a solid foundation with captain Das and Bikash Swarup Pati putting up 86 runs for the opening wicket. But the fall of three wickets in space of 44 runs stopped Orissa from taking an upper hand in the match. Part-time off-spinner Amol Sindhe dismissed Pati (37 of 67, 4x5, 6x1) and P R Sinha (14) to help Hyderabad bounce back into the match. Orissa-born India left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha gave Hyderabad the third success by having former Orissa captain Niranjan Behera caught by A Pai for eight. But former Test opener Das, who stood like a rock at one end, batted with confidence to keep Orissa`s flag flying high. His 154-ball knock of 75 has so far produced nine hits to the fence. With the first two days of the match producing a total of 446 runs against 15 wickets, it has become clear that both the sides are more interested in avoiding defeat in the opening match of the season, instead of winning it. However, a clear picture about the outcome of the match is expected to emerge after the end of first session of play on the third day. And Orissa is relieved that captain Das is still there and going strong. Brief scores: Hyderabad 296 (Abhinab Kumar 99 n.o, S Anoop Pai 78, D Ravi Teja 71: Preetamjeet Das 3/59, Debasis Mohanty 3/63, Basant Mohanty 3/81) vs Orissa 150 for 3 in 55 overs (Shiv Sundar Das 75 n.o, Bikash Swarup Pati 37: Amol Sindhe 2/16).