Ahmedabad: Odisha did well to bowl out Goa for 181 on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group D match at Narendra Modi Stadium ‘B’ Ground at Motera.
The good work of bowlers was partly undone by batsmen as Odisha reached a precarious 23 for 3 at stumps on Thursday. The top three – Shantanu Mishra (6), Anurag Sarangi (1) and Sandeep Pattanaik (0) – were all back in the hut.
Odisha’s hopes of earning a first-innings lead now depends on Subhranshu Senapati. The captain, who bagged an IPL contract with Chennai Super Kings four days ago, was unbeaten on 14.
The day started on an encouraging note after Subhranshu won the toss and asked Goa to bat first. Odisha fast bowlers relished bowling on a pitch which assisted them and reduced Goa to 63 for 6.
Veteran medium-pacer Basant Mohanty, playing his 100th first-class match, bagged three wickets. The 35-year-old finished with superb figures of 18-8-27-3, while Abhishek Raut took 2 wickets.
Odisha, however, failed to see off Goa’s late order batsmen quickly. Wicketkeeper-batsman Eknath Kerkar stood firm and took Goa to a fighting total of 181, thanks to useful partnerships of 53 and 41 for the seventh and last wicket with Shrikant Wagh and Amulya Pandrekar, respectively.
Scores: Goa 181. Odisha 22/3.
Match to continue.
