Bhubaneswar: Govind Poddar’s (118, 187b, 14×4, 2×6) seventh first class century failed to prevent Odisha from to crashing to a 10-wicket defeat to Maharashtra in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match which ended Friday in Pune.
Govind, who had been bereft of form for most part of this season, regained it when his team needed a good score. However, it was of no avail as others save Anurag Sarangi (73, 152b, 13×4) failed to fight it out in the middle at the MCA Stadium in Pune.
Resuming at their overnight score of 24 without loss Odisha lost the wickets of Shantanu Mishra (21) and skipper Subhranshu Senapati (12) early. But then Govind and Anurag fought back and batted with a lot of determination to thwart the hosts. The two added 94 runs for the third wicket, but more importantly consumed a little over 27 overs.
After Anurag’s dismissal both Biplab Samantray and (19) and Abhishek Raut (21) had starts but failed to convert those into substantial scores. Abhishek and Govind added 64 runs for the fifth wicket giving Odisha some hope of saving the game. But once Abhishek was dismissed at the team score of 257, Odisha lost their remaining five wickets for just 32 runs and were bowled out for 289. First innings hero Rajesh Dhuper fell for a duck.
Govind was the ninth man out as he went for quick runs. However, it was his century that helped Odisha avoid the ignominy of an innings defeat.
Mukehs Choudhary (4/99) was the most successful bowler for the hosts. He was well-supported by A Palkar (3/36) and SS Bacchav (3/80).
Needing 40 runs for an outright win, Rahul Tripathi (21 n o) and Ankit Bawne (14 n o) knocked off those in a canter to ensure full points for their side.
The loss pushed Odisha to second position in the points table in Group C. They are now on 35 points from eight matches. Jammu and Kashmir head the table with 39 points from the same number of games.
Brief scores: Odisha 293 and 289 (Govind Poddar 118, Anurag Sarangi, 73, Mukesh Choudhary 4/99, A Palkar 3/36, S Bacchav 3/80) lost to Maharashtra 543 for five declared and 40 without loss by 10 wickets.
PNN
