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Bhubaneswar, Nov 17: Orissa created for themselves a bonus-point winning opportunity by asking Haryana to follow on Tuesday after the hosts were dismissed for 216 in reply to the visitor’s first innings score of 529 for six declared. At stumps in their second innings, Haryana were for 46 for one and still needing another 267 runs on the last day to avoid an innings defeat.
For the first time in the season both the batting and bowling departments of Orissa came good during the Group A Ranji Trophy tie at the Bansi Lal Stadium in Rohtak. If Natraj Behera had put Orissa in a position of strength with his batting it was the turn of the pace duo of Basant Mohanty (3/51) and Suryakant Pradhan (3/53) to destroy the Haryana hopes. They were well-supported by left-arm spinner Dhiraj Singh (2/22) and part-time bowler Govind Poddar (1/22).
The bowlers were well aided by skipper Natraj, who changed them judiciously and also impressed with his field placements. The performance was all the more laudable as the track remained batting-friendly and it was the efforts of Basant and Suryakant that triggered the Haryana collapse. Except for opener Nitin Saini (51, 146b, 6×4), none of the other Haryana batsmen could get going against the Orissa bowlers. Jayant Yadav (46, 100b, 4×4) resisted for a while lower down the order, but he was always fighting a lost cause.
Basant as usual got all his victims leg before with incoming deliveries while Suryakant troubled all the batsmen with his off-the-seam movement, both away and into the pads.
If the bowlers can continue with their form, Orissa will definitely benefit and move upwards in the nine-team group. Currently they are languishing in seventh position.
Other Group A games
(At Pune): Bengal 528/8; Maharashtra 296/3 (RA Tripathi 70 batting, SD Atitkar 69; AB Dinda 2/49). Match to continue.
(At Guwahati): Delhi 149 & 172; Assam 157 & 70/3 (RG Hazarika 30 batting; PJ Sangwan 1/24). Match to continue.
(At Nagpur): Rajasthan 216 & 226 (Ashok Menaria 76, VA Saxena 54, AA Sarwate 4/58) ; Vidarbha 247 all out (AA Sarwate 50, FY Fazal 40; Tanveer-Ul-Haq 4/60). Match to continue.