Vizianagaram: Orissa skipper Govind Poddar (111, 182b, 13×4) hit a fluent century and he was well-supported by rookie Subhranshu Senapati (91, 197b, 11×4, 1×6), but in the end it turned out to be efforts in vain as hosts Andhra Pradesh hit back hard in the last session to have the visitors on the mat at 294 for six. Andhra in their first innings had scored 584 for five declared and hence Orissa need 140 runs more to avoid the follow on. At stumps on day three here, Biplab Samantray (28 batting ) and Subham Nayak (0 batting) were at the crease.
“We could have been in a better position if Subhransu had been at the crease with Biplab,” said Govind, who got his sixth century in first class cricket. “He batted with a lot of composure and was unlucky to get a ball that turned from the bowlers’ footmarks,” Govind added.
The Orissa skipper also said that once he and Subhransu settled down in the middle, the AP bowlers resorted to the ‘leg-side tactics’. “They made scoring extremely difficult with 3-6 field placings. Boundaries were hard to come by and in the end it was exhaustion that contributed to our downfall,” Govind informed over the phone.
Orissa lost to Sandeep Patnaik (21) early in the day, but then Govind and Subhransu steadied the ship with a 185-run third-wicket stand. Govind who had batted sedately through the day, finally fell in the last over before tea, a dismissal he termed ‘due to a slip in concentration’.
Left arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt (66/3) was the pick of the AP bowlers and was well-supported by KV Sasikanth (2/30).
Brief scores: Andhra Pradesh 584/5 decl; Orissa 294/6 (Govind Poddar 111, Subhranshu Senapati 91; Bhargav Bhatt 3/66). Match to continue.
Other Group C matches
(At Mumbai): Mumbai 374 and 85/1 (Shreyas Iyer 56 batting); Tamil Nadu 450 (Yo Mahesh 103 n o; Vijay Gohli 4/129). Match to continue.
(At Agartala): Tripura 205 and 103(Rajesh Banik 29; Mihir Hirwani 5/22, Ankit Sharma 4/51) lost to Madhya Pradesh 260 (Harpreet Singh 70; Gurinder Singh 4/94) and 52/0 by 10 wickets.
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