MP piles up 320 as Orissa's gamble goes awry

By Our Sports Reporter

GWALIOR, MARCH 22. The early-morning moisture in the pitch probably prompted Orissa captain Sanjay Raul to put the opposition in. But the Madhya Pradesh batsmen made the most of a depleted attack to put the host at a comfortable 320 for six on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium here on Thursday.

Orissa went into the match with only two medium pacers, as its in-form strike bowler Debasis Mohanty was absent. Orissa's decision to field, came as a surprise, especially on a pitch which is traditionally batsmen-friendly. Orissa did take two wickets each in the three sessions, but the Madhya Pradesh middle order batsmen played with confidence to ensure that the side crosses the 300-run mark on the opening day.

Opener Harvinder Singh Sodhi, Devender Bundela and J. P. Yadav struck half-centuries before Madhya Pradesh skipper Chandrakant Pandit and Ankit Srivastava saw the host team to the stumps. They look promising to lengthen their seventh-wicket partnership. A 400-plus score should be a challenging one on a pitch which should assist the spinners as the match progresses.

All-rounder Pravanjan Mullick (two for 36) was the most successful bowler for Orissa, as the visitor's new ball bowler Ajay Barick went for 60 runs off 17 overs without any success. Orissa must be ruing a few dropped chances and also some sloppy fielding. A little more alacrity in the outfield would have helped it gain some advantage on the first day itself. Of the catches that went abegging, there was a `sitter' that Suresh Kumar dropped at first slip off Abbas Ali.

Openers Sodhi and Naman Ojha started cautiously, but when bowler Mullick was introduced into the attack, he forced Ojha to edge to the wicketkeeper Gautam Gopal as Madhya Pradesh lost its first wicket with just 23 runs on the board.

The swashbuckling Amay Khurasiya was at his usual best. He added a quick 60 runs for the second wicket with Sodhi before holding out to Raul in the slip cordon off Sanjay Satpathy.

A well-set Sodhi (57) was snapped up in the gully by Raul off Jayachandra and soon after that came the missed chance by Suresh that gave Abbas Ali another reprieve. The lapse did not prove costly as Mullick ended Ali's stay with a fine, diving return catch.

Ali's departure set the stage for the day's most fruitful partnership, between Bundela (78) and J. P. Yadav (64), as the two added 98 runs for the fifth wicket. Yadav's knock was a visual treat. He hit two sixes and five boundaries in his 95- ball innings. Bundela was caught behind by Gopal off Pradip Das, but Orissa needed something special to get Yadav's wicket. Satpathy produced a diving catch at short fine-leg off Jagannath Das to end a most entertaining innings.

The scores:

Madhya Pradesh- 1st innings: Harvinder Singh Sodhi c Raul b Jayachandra 57, Naman Ojha c Gopal b Mullick 11, Amay Khurasiya c Raul b Satpathy 28, Devender Bundela c Gopal b Pradip Das 78, Abbas Ali c and b Mullick 16, J. P. Yadav c Satpathy b Jagannath Das 64, Chandrakant Pandit (batting) 18, Ankit Srivastava (batting) 22, Extras (b-1, lb-11, nb-11, w-3) 26, Total (for six wickets, 90 overs, 367 minutes) 320.

Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-83, 3-119, 4- 156, 5-254, 6-293.

Orissa bowling: Ajay Barick 17-2-60-0, P Jayachandra 14-2-45-1, Pravanjan Mullick 11-1-36-2, Sanjay Satpathy 21-3-69-1, Jagannath Das 13-0-57-1, Sanjay Raul 8-0-30- 0, Pradip Das 6-1-11-1.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : South Africa wins second Test
Next     : De Silva dropped from one-day squad