Maiden first-class ton by young batsman Debasish Samantray helped Odisha draw their four-day Ranji Trophy Elite Group-C match against Services at Airforce Ground, Palam, Delhi today. However, Services gained three points for taking first-innings lead, while Odisha settled with one point.
After conceding a first-innings lead of 240 runs, Odisha bounced back into the match to salvage pride, making 256 for five in the second innings at stumps on the last day. Samantaray spearheaded the fight-back with a career-best knock of 102 (259b, 13x4) in the second essay.
With this draw, Odisha maintained their fifth position in the group table with 20 points from eight matches. They will play their ninth and last league match against Goa at Vikash Ground in Bhubaneswar from January 7 to 10.
Earlier, gutsy half-century by Abhishek Raut and his 82-run partnership for the sixth-wicket with captain Biplab Samantaray helped Odisha compile a respectable total on the opening day. Opting to bat, Odisha were in dire straits, losing five wickets for 55. They were able to post a respectable total, thanks to the valuable partnership between Raut and Samantaray.
In-form Raut top scored with 56 (102b, 8x4), which was his third half-century in first-class cricket. Samantaray scored a 128-ball 41 with the help of two boundaries and one six. But after the sizeable sixth-wicket stand, Odisha lost their last five wickets for 40 runs to be restricted to 177. Arun Bamal was most successful Services bowler, taking four wickets for 61 runs.
In reply, Services declared their only innings at 417 for eight. Among Services batsmen, Vikas Hathwala scored an unbeaten century, while Navneet Singh and captain Rajat Paliwal contributed a half-century each.
SCOREBOARD
ODISHA (1st innings): Anurag Sarangi c A Gupta (Sub) b Pandey 0, Shantanu Mishra c N Singh b Pandey 7, Debasish Samantray (run out) Gahlaut 26, Subhranshu Senapati c Gahlaut b Bamal 6, Govind Poddar lbw Bamal 6, Biplab Samantaray c Pathania b Bamal 41, Abhishek Raut c Bamal b N Singh 56, P Roshan Kumar Rao lbw Pathania 9, Suryakant Pradhan lbw Bamal 0, Basant Mohanty c Ahlawat b Pathania 7, Rajesh Mohanty (not out) 4; Extras (nb-1, b-9, lb-8) 18
Total (All out; 86.2 overs) 177
Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Sarangi, 3.5 ov), 2-22 (Mishra, 16.2), 3-39 (Senapati, 23.2), 4-49 (Poddar, 27.5), 5-55 (D Samantray, 30.4), 6-137 (Raut, 61.2), 7-156 (B Samantaray, 74.1), 8-157 (Pradhan, 76.2), 9-168 (Rao, 84.1), 10-177 (B Mohanty, 86.2)
Bowling: Diwesh Gurdev Pathania 17.2-6-27-2, Sachidanand Pandey 13-6-25-2, Arun Bamal 31-8-61-4, Khalid Ahmad 21-5-42-0, N K Singh 4-1-5-1.
SERVICES (1st innings): Navneet Singh c&b Raut 64, Ravi Chauhan c D Samantray b Sarangi 48, Mohit Ahlawat st Rao b Raut 25, Rajat Paliwal c Rao b R Mohanty 62, Rahul Singh Gahlaut lbw Poddar 11, Vikas Hathwala (not out) 115, Devender Lohchab b Poddar 15, Khalid Ahmad c&b Mishra 34, Arun Bamal b Pradhan 16, Diwesh Pathania (not out) 15; Extras (w-1, b-8, lb-3) 12
Total (8 wickets declared; 141 overs) 417
Fall of wickets: 1-87 (Chauhan, 32.4 ov), 2-125 (Ahlawat, 44.2), 3-153 (N Singh, 57.2), 4-172 (Gahlaut, 70.6), 5-254 (Paliwal, 96.3), 6-284 (Lohchab, 104.4), 7-357 (Ahmad, 127.4), 8-391 (Bamal, 137.4)
Bowling: Basant Mohanty 27-7-58-0, Rajesh Mohanty 23-7-72-1, Govinda Poddar 29-2-85-2, Suryakant Pradhan 17-1-48-1, Anurag Sarangi 7-1-13-1, Abhishek Raut 28-4-103-2, Shantanu Mishra 10-1-27-1.
ODISHA (2nd innings): Shantanu Mishra b Ahmad 30, Debasish Samantray b Bamal 102, Subhranshu Senapati (run out) 12, Govinda Poddar st Lohchab b Chauhan 23, Anurag Sarangi (not out) 46, Biplab Samantaray c Paliwal b Bamal 3, Abhishek Raut (not out) 20; Extras (b-17, lb-3) 20
Total (5 wickets; 110 overs) 256
Fall of wickets: 1-63 (Mishra, 25.6 ov), 2-85 (Senapati, 36.3), 3-133 (Poddar, 66.4), 4-211 (D Samantray, 91.5), 5-221 (B Samantaray, 99.6)
Did not bat: Basat Mohanty, Suryakant Pradhan, P Roshan Kumar Rao, Rajesh Mohanty
Bowling: Diwesh Pathania 17-5-30-0, Sachidanand Pandey 16-4-38-0, A Bamal 34-12-58-2, Khalid Ahmad 32-10-78-1, N K Singh 5-2-12-0, Rajat Paliwal 2-0-11-0, Ravi Chauhan 4-0-9-1.