Bhubaneswar: Odisha succumbed to the guiles of an unheralded off-spinner to suffer a crushing 147-run defeat in their Ranji Trophy campaign opener against Baroda on Monday.
Going into the final day of the Elite Group D match at Moti Bag Stadium needing 329 runs with 9 wickets in hand, following a 95-run opening stand on Day 3, Odisha kept fighting through another dogged partnership for the second wicket.
Skipper Shantanu Mishra (78 off 232 balls) showed exemplary application and was well supported by Sandeep Pattanaik (51 off 121 balls). Once their 89-run collaboration ended, Odisha imploded.
The 22-year-old Mahesh Pithiya, playing only his fifth first-class game, ran through the middle order to record his maiden five-wicket haul (5/61).
His victims included Pattanaik, Subhranshu Senapati (1), Kartik Biswal (0), Govinda Poddar (14) and Suryakant Pradhan (46).
Suryakant used the long handle to smack 2 fours and 4 sixes after the more experienced and specialist batters were all at sea against Pithiya.
Odisha’s second innings lasted 101.5 overs, an improvement on their first innings, but it was well short of what was needed to avoid defeat.
Brief scores
Baroda 351 & 258/4 declared.
Odisha 178 & 284 (Shantanu Mishra 78, Anurag Sarangi 56, Sandeep Pattanaik 51, Suryakant Pradhan 46; Mahesh Pithiya 5/61).
Result: Baroda beat Odisha by 147 runs.
Next match: Madhya Pradesh vs Odisha from Jan 12 at Shankarpur.
