PNN & Agencies
Kalyani, Nov 24: Bengal wrapped up what was meant to be a four-day Ranji Trophy contest in just one and a half days after they blew away Orissa for an unbelievable 37 in the visitors’ second innings, prompting a livid team management to lodge a complaint about the nature of the pitch with the BCCI.
Hosts Bengal comfortably won the Group A match by 133 runs at the Bengal Cricket Academy (BCA) ground that resembled a minefield. Interestingly, the venue was hosting its first first-class match.
It was pacer Ashoke Dinda (7/19) who wreaked havoc including a hat-trick, as Orissa were bundled out in only 19.2 overs in pursuit of their victory target of 171.
Bengal managed 142 and 135 in their two innings with eight of their batsmen failing to score a single run across both innings. In the second innings, it was the turn of Basant Mohanty (5/16) to destroy the hosts’ line-up.
Dismayed at the pitch on offer skipper Natraj Behera and OCA secretary Asirbad Behera confirmed Tuesday that they were lodging an official complaint about the nature of the strip. A fuming Asirbad said: “Is this the kind of wicket you prepare for first-class matches? What is the point of having a four-day match if you want to make an under-prepared wicket and get it over in one and half days.
“We’re extremely disappointed at the way they (Bengal) have prepared the wicket. We’ve already filed our complaint with the match referee and then sending a report to the BCCI’s grounds committee chairman Daljit Singh.”
Skipper Natraj said, “Yes, our manager has filed an official complaint with the match referee (Shakti Singh). This was an absolutely dangerous pitch.”
Singh confirmed receiving a complaint from the Orissa team. “Yes, Orissa have filed a complaint and I will forward it to the BCCI. I will also give my report. It is up to BCCI to decide,” Singh said.
Meanwhile speaking over the phone from Mohali, former Bihar player Daljit stated that he would have nothing to do with the matter. “The match referee’s report would be crucial and I have no role to play here. It will be referred to the BCCI’s technical committee,” said Daljit. He however, refused to comment when asked as to whether the BCCI can order a replay. “This is out of my jurisdiction, I can’t comment,” stated Daljit.
Sources, however, informed that with Sourav Ganguly heading the CAB and being close to BCCI top brass, Orissa should not expect justice. The hearing will be delayed, by which time, Ranji Trophy would have entered the knockout stages.
Brief scores: Bengal 142 & 135 (Abhimanyu Easwaran 39, Sudeep Chatterjee 37, Manoj Tiwary 35, Basant Mohanty 5/16) beat Orissa 107 & 37 (Ashok Dinda, 7/19, Pragyan Ojha 3/14) by 133 runs.
Other Group A matches
(At Rohtak): Haryana 112 & 62/0 (N Saini 42 batting); Rajasthan 279 (AL Menaria 47, Puneet Yadav 46; Mohit Sharma 5/56).
(At Hubli): Karnataka 542 (Robin Uthappa 148, NA Saini 3/85); Delhi 60/1 (Gautam Gambhir 33 batting).
(At Pune): Assam 223/4 (KB Arun Karthik 105 batting, G Sharma 58 batting) vs Maharashtra.
All matches to continue.
