Cuttack: Half centuries from Shantanu Mishra (66, 182b, 10×4), Anurag Sarangi (58, 112b, 10×4, 1×6) and Govind Poddar (54 batting, 143b, 8×4) put Odisha in a commanding position Monday against Assam in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group C encounter at the DRIEMS ground in Tangi. At stumps on the opening day, hosts Odisha were 215 for three in 87 overs. Giving Govind company was Biplab Samantray (32 batting, 82b, 4×4).
Even though, the Odisha batsmen were tad slow, they batted with a lot of discipline. It seemed as they had learnt from the batting debacle they suffered in both innings of their game against Jammu and Kashmir. It was Odisha’s first defeat this season after winning four games on the trot.
Put into bat, Odisha openers Shantanu and Anurag gave their team a solid start putting on 96 runs for the first wicket. The two denied the Assam pacers from achieving a breakthrough on the DRIEMS pitch which usually helps pacers in the first two hours of play.
However, after lunch Assam got two wickets in quick succession as Anurag and skipper Subhranshu Sarangi fell in quick succession. Govind and Shantanu then steadied the ship with a 52-run stand for the third wicket. After Shantanu fell, it was the turn of Govind and Biplab to further thwart the Assam bowlers with a 67-run unbroken partnership for the fourth wicket.
It is clear that Odisha now want to put up a huge total and put the Assam batsmen under pressure. Odisha bowlers Basant Mohanty, Rajesh Mohanty and Suryakant Pradhan have got very good track records at DRIEMS and Odisha will certainly want to bowl out Assam twice after putting up a 450-plus score in the first innings. However, for that both Govind and Biplab will have to bat for a long time, Tuesday.
Brief scores: Odisha 215 for 3 (Shantanu Mishra 66, Anurag Sarangi 58, Govind Poddar 54, R Mali 2/51) vs Assam. Match to continue.
PNN