Tangi (Cuttack): Opener Shantanu Mishra (110, 245b, 12×4) struck his maiden century in first-class cricket and it could not be a better time when his side needed him the most. His hundred helped Odisha post 253, taking a 100-plus first innings lead against Uttarakhand in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group C encounter at the DRIEMS Ground here, Friday.
In reply, the visitors were 54/4 in their second essay before bad light forced the umpires call off the day’s play. At stumps, Uttarakhand were 82 runs behind the Odisha’s first innings total with six wickets in hand as D Negi (23 batting) and Karanveer Kaushal, who is yet to open his account, were at the crease.
Earlier resuming the play at 145/6, Shantanu made the visiting bowlers toil hard to get him out on a track where there is enough assistance for pacers. The opener, who was batting on 54, completed his century having little support from the tailenders. He was the last man to get out as Odisha took 136-run first innings lead. Sunny (3/45) and Pradeep Chamoli (3/48) were the picks of the bowlers for the visitors.
In response, Uttarakhand top order hardly pose any threat to the home team as Basant Mohanty (2/18), who has two six-wicket hauls in two matches including the 6/17 in the first innings in this match, and Rajesh Mohanty (1/19) sent the top three back to the pavilion with the visitors reeling at 15/3 inside three overs.
Basant gave a double blow in the second over before Rajesh dismissed opposition skipper Unmukt Chand the next over to pile more misery on Uttarakhand.
However, Saurabh Rawat (15), who played for Odisha a couple of seasons back, tried to resurrect the innings with Negi at the other end. Suryakant Pradhan (1/15) broke the 38-run stand to reduce the visitors to 53/4. After his dismissal, only one over’s play was possible before the bad light stopped play.
Brief scores: Uttarakhand 117 & 54/4 (Basant Mohanty 2/18); Odisha 253 (Shantanu Mishra 110; Sunny 3/45, Pradeep Chamoli 3/48). Match to continue.
