Bhubaneswar: Delhi put themselves firmly in the driver’s seat with a commanding display on day one of their Group B Ranji Trophy tie at the PCA Stadium in Mohali, Thursday. After dismissing Orissa for 237 in the first innings, skipper Gautam Gambhir (26 batting) and Unmukt Chand (13 batting) took Delhi to 43 without loss at stumps.
There were three phases in the Orissa innings. First when they were reduced to 59 for four and a score above 200 looked impossible. Then when Subhranshu Senapati (76, 153b, 10×4) and Biplab Samantray (62, 112b, 8×4, 1×6) put on 141 runs for the fifth wicket and suddenly a good score over 300 was on the cards and then the collapse which saw Orissa lose their last six wickets for only 37 runs to finish below 250 on a pitch which has a lot of carry.
Earlier, after being put in, Orissa lost openers Sandip Patnaik (seven) and Ranjit Singh (four cheaply). However, skipper Govind Poddar (24) and Anurag Sarangi (18) put on 44 runs for the third wicket to raise hopes of a recovery. But both left in quick succession and it was left to Subhranshu and Biplab to take the Orissa score to a semblance of respectability.
Varun Sood (3-23) was the pick of the bowlers for Delhi while Sumit Narwal (2-34) and Manan Sharma (2-52) supported the left-arm spinner well. Ishant Sharma also picked up the crucial wicket of Subhranshu.
Brief scores
Orissa 237 (Subhranshu Senapati 76, Biplab Samantray 62; Varun Sood 3-23); Delhi 43 for no loss. Match to continue.
Other Group-B matches
(At Mumbai): Assam 268 for 6 (Amit Verma 125 batting; Sreenath Aravind 5-49) vs Karnataka.
(At Wayanad): Vidarbha 105 (Vikash Singh 4-24, Ajay Yadav 3-28); Jharkhand 146 for one (Pratyush Singh 80 batting).
(At Hyderabad): Maharashtra 280 for 3 (Naushad Shaikh 118 batting, Ankit Bawne 83) vs Rajasthan.
Post News Network
