Century each by Rajesh Dhuper and Govinda Podda went in vain as Odisha suffered a 10-wicket defeat at the hands of Maharashtra on the fourth and last day of their penultimate Ranji Trophy Elite Group-C match at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune today.
After conceding a first-innings lead of 250 runs, Odisha at one stage were 257 for four in the second innings and appeared to be heading for a comfortable draw. But the loss of six wickets for 36 runs saw them make a meek surrender eventually.
Put into bat earlier, Odisha rode on a 127-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Shantanu Mishra and Rajesh Dhuper to post a respectable total of 293. Dhuper slammed an unbeaten 110 (152b, 6x4, 7x6), which was his maiden first-class century, while Mishra made a patient 84 (267b, 7x4).
In reply, hosts Maharashtra rode on a double century by captain Ankit Bawne and a century each by Ruturaj Gaikwad and Naushad Shaikh to declare with a huge total of 543 for five.
Needing 251 runs to deny Maharashtra innings victory, Odisha were bowled out for 289 in their second innings, thanks to the century by Poddar, who scored 118 (187b, 14x4, 2x6). Set with a small target of 40 runs for victory, Maharashtra romped home in 11 overs, without losing any wicket.
After the heart-breaking defeat Odisha slipped to the second position in the group table with 35 points from eight matches. Odisha will play their ninth and last league match against Jharkhand at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack from February 12 to 15.
SCOREBOARD
ODISHA (1st innings): Shantanu Mishra b Palkar 84, Anurag Sarangi lbw Bachhav 41, Subhranshu Senapati c More b Palkar 1, Govinda Poddar c More b Palkar 5, Biplab Samantray c Gaikwad b Ingale 5, Abhishek Raut run out (Mukesh) 12, Rajesh Dhuper not out 110, Debabrata Pradhan c More b Choudhary 0, Suryakant Pradhan c More b Palkar 28, Rajesh Mohanty c More b Choudhary 0, Pappu Roy b Bachhav 1; Extras (lb-4, w-2) 6
Total (All out, 101.1 overs) 293
Fall of wickets: 62-1 (Sarangi, 28 overs), 65-2 (Senapati, 32.4), 73-3 (Poddar, 38.2), 81-4 (B Samantray, 44.2), 96-5 (Raut, 48.3), 223-6 (Mishra, 89), 226-7 (D Pradhan, 91.3), 259-8 (S Pradhan, 95), 274-9 (R Mohanty, 98), 293-10 (Roy, 101.1)
Bowling: Mukesh Choudhary 25-4-79-2, Ashay Palkar 29-6-81-4, Manoj Ingale 17-5-31-1, Satyajeet Bachhav 24.1-5-70-2, Rahul Tripathi 4-1-22-0, Swapnil Gugale 2-0-6-0.
MAHARASHTRA (1st innings): Swapnil Gugale c Samantray b R Mohanty 7, Jay Pande c Dhuper b S Pradhan 17, Ruturaj Gaikwad c Poddar b D Pradhan 129, Ankit Bawne not out 204, Naushad Shaikh c Dhuper b Raut 100, Rahul Tripathi c Raut b S Pradhan 65; Extras (b-10, lb-1, w-7, nb-3) 21
Total (5 wkts Decl, 149.5 overs) 543
Did not bat: Vishant More, Satyajeet Bachhav, Ashay Palkar, Mukesh Choudhary, Manoj Ingale
Fall of wickets: 18-1 (Gugale, 6.6 overs), 38-2 (Pande, 18.5), 249-3 (Gaikwad, 82.5), 429-4 (Shaikh, 133.1), 543-5 (Tripathi, 149.5)
Bowling: Rajesh Mohanty 12.4-6-24-1, Suryakant Pradhan 29.5-6-92-2, Debabrata Pradhan 32.2-4-85-1, Subhranshu Senapati 11-2-28-0, Pappu Roy 40-3-151-0, Abhishek Raut 16-0-98-1, Govinda Poddar 8-0-54-0.
ODISHA (2nd innings): S Mishra c More b Choudhary 21, Anurag Sarangi c (sub) Shamshuzama Kazi b Choudhary 73, Subhranshu Senapati c More b Palkar 12, G Poddar c Bawne b Choudhary 118, B Samantray lbw Bachhav 19, A Raut b Bachhav 23, R Dhuper c More b Choudhary 0, D Pradhan c (sub) Mandar Bhandari b Palkar 1, S Pradhan c Gaikwad b Bachhav 6, R Mohanty b Palkar 0, P Roy not out 4; Extras lb-8, w-3, nb-1) 12
Total (All out, 86.1 overs) 289
Fall of wickets: 32-1 (Mishra, 12.4 overs), 59-2 (Senapati, 21.1), 153-3 (Sarangi, 50), 193-4 (Samantray, 59.3), 257-5 (Raut, 74.5), 258-6 (Dhuper, 75.4), 271-7 (D Pradhan, 83), 277-8 (S Pradhan, 84.3), 281-9 (Poddar, 85.4), 289-10 (R Mohanty, 86.1)
Bowling: Mukesh Choudhary 25-3-99-4, Ashay Palkar 13.1-4-36-3, Satyajeet Bachhav 24-2-80-3, Swapnil Gugale 16-1-53-0, Rahul Tripathi 7-2-8-0, Jay Pande 1-0-5-0.
MAHARASHTRA (2nd innings): R Tripathi not out 21, Ankit Bawne not out 14; Extras (b-1, lb-2, w-2) 5
Total (0 wkt, 11 overs) 40
Bowling: S Pradhan 6-0-14-0, D Pradhan 3-0-19-0, P Roy 2-1-4-0.