Half-century each by captain Govind Poddar, Biplab Samantraya and Saurabh Rawat helped Odisha share points in their Group-B Ranji Trophy match against Delhi at PCA Stadium in Mohali today. Needing 259 runs to avoid innings defeat, Odisha were 274 for eight in the second innings when the four-day match ended in a draw.
However, Delhi gained three points from this match by virtue of taking first-innings lead, while Odisha contended themselves with one point. Odisha now have eight points from three matches and they will next meet Rajasthan at Patiala from November 5 to 8.
Put into bat by Delhi skipper Gautam Gambhir, Odisha made a respectable total of 237. After losing four wickets for 59 runs, Odisha recovered well thanks to a half-century each by Subhranshu Senapati (76) and Biplab Samantray (62) and a 141-run partnership between the two for the fifth wicket.
In reply, Delhi rode on a century each by Gautam Gambhir and Milind and a half-century apiece by Rishabh Pant and Manan Sharma to declare their first innings at 495 for eight and take a substantial lead of 258 runs. Left-arm spinner Dhiraj Singh was most successful Odisha bowler, taking four wickets for 84 runs.
In the second innings also, Odisha were in trouble, losing five wickets for 116 runs. But Poddar (56), Samantray (88) and Rawat (55) batted with courage and determination to dash the victory hope of the opposition. Samantray and Rawat steadied the innings, compiling 134 runs in their sixth-wicket stand.
Vice-captain Basant Mohanty and tail-ender Dhiraj Singh also played commendable roles in drawing the match as they defied the marauding Delhi bowlers for around nine overs, while adding two runs in the unbroken ninth-wicket stand.
SCOREBOARD:
ODISHA (1st innings): Sandeep Pattanaik b Narwal 7, Ranjit Singh c Pant b Narwal 4, Govinda Poddar c Pant b Tokas 24, Anurag Sarangi lbw Rana 18, Subhransu Senapati c&b I Sharma 76, Biplab Samantaray c I Sharma b Sood 62, Saurabh Rawat b M Sharma 4, Deepak Behera (not out) 16, Basant Mohanty lbw Sood 1, Suryakant Pradhan c&b M Sharma 1, Dhiraj Singh st Pant b Sood 11; Extras (nb-4, w-2, b-6, lb-1) 13
Total (All out; 77.4 overs) 237
Fall of wickets: 1-8 (R Singh, 1.4 ov), 2-15 (S Pattanaik, 5.3 ov), 3-59 (G Poddar, 18.3 ov), 4-59 (A Sarangi, 19.4 ov), 5-200 (B Samantaray, 60.2 ov), 6-204 (S Senapati, 64.2 ov), 7-209 (S Rawat, 70.1 ov), 8-214 (B Mohanty, 71.5 ov), 9-215 (S Pradhan, 72.3 ov), 10-237 (D Singh, 77.4 ov)
Bowling: Ishant Sharma 14-2-29-1, Sumit Narwal 13-2-34-2, V Tokas 15-0-70-1, Nitish Rana 7-2-22-1, Manan Sharma 16-4-52-2, Varun Sood 12.4-4-23-3
DELHI (1st innings): Unmukt Chand c Senapati b Pradhan 19, Gautam Gambhir c Sarangi b Poddar 147, Dhruv Shorey lbw Poddar 29, Nitish Rana c Samantray b Pradhan 5, Rishabh Pant c Senapati b D Singh 60, Milind (not out) 106, Varun Sood lbw D Singh 4, Sumit Narwal c&b D Singh 35, Manan Sharma c Mohanty b D Singh 81; Extras (nb-1, b-5, lb-2, w-1) 9
Total (8 wkts decl; 144.5 overs) 495
Fall of wickets: 1-57 (Unmukt Chand, 13.1 ov), 2-128 (Dhruv Shorey, 38.5 ov), 3-141 (Nitish Rana, 47.2 ov), 4-255 (Rishabh Pant, 66.5 ov), 5-274 (Gautam Gambhir, 73.4 ov), 6-283 (Varun Sood, 78.5 ov), 7-339 (Sumit Narwal, 90.3 ov), 8-495 (Manan Sharma, 144.5 ov)
Bowling: Basant Mohanty 27-7-92-0, Suryakant Pradhan 27-2-113-2, Deepak Behera 22-5-61-0, Dhiraj Singh 29.5-3-84-4, Biplab Samantaray 9-2-37-0, Govinda Poddar 30-1-101-2
ODISHA (2nd innings): Sandeep Pattanaik c Pant b I Sharma 27, Ranjit Singh c Pant b I Sharma 2, Govinda Poddar (run out) 56 (116b, 9x4), Anurag Sarangi c I Sharma b Tokas 18, Subhransu Senapati lbw M Sharma 2, Biplab Samantaray c Pant b Narwal 88 (221b, 11x4), Saurabh Rawat c Chand b I Sharma 55 (189b, 8x4), Deepak Behera b Sood 15, Basant Mohanty (not out) 5, Dhiraj Singh (not out) 1; Extras (nb-1, b-1, lb-3) 5
Total (8 wickets; 133 overs) 274
Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Ranjit Singh, 4.6 ov), 2-54 (Sandeep Pattanaik, 18.4 ov), 3-90 (Anurag Sarangi, 32.5 ov), 4-97 (Subhransu Senapati, 37.3 ov), 5-116 (Govinda Poddar, 46.6 ov), 6-250 (Biplab Samantaray, 106.2 ov), 7-257 (Saurabh Rawat, 112.5 ov), 8-272 (Deepak Behera, 124.1 ov)
Bowling: Ishant Sharma 27-15-51-3, Sumit Narwal 14-3-35-1, Manan Sharma 31-13-57-1, V Tokas 18-3-63-1, Varun Sood 25-9-33-1, Milind 6-5-4-0, Nitish Rana 3-1-6-0, Dhruv Shorey 9-1-21-0