Ranji Trophy: Odisha Bowled Out For 138 As Home ‘Advantage’ Backfires Again In Cuttack

Cuttack: The ploy of preparing a pacer-friendly pitch backfired once again on Odisha as the home team were skittled out for 138 in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group D match against Himachal Pradesh here on Friday.

Odisha’s first innings lasted just 51 overs at the DRIEMS ground. In reply, Himachal reached a solid 80/1 at stumps on Day 1.

Last week, Odisha had folded up for 130 in 47.2 overs against Jammu & Kashmir, and ultimately lost a low-scoring game by 2 wickets.

On both occasions, skipper Shantanu Mishra lost the toss and Odisha were asked to bat first by the rival teams.

Just like against J & K, Odisha batsmen failed to cope with medium-pacers on a track which offered them some assistance.

There was some resistance from previous-game centurion Sandeep Pattanaik, who made 20 off 48 balls. Teenaged wicketkeeper-batter Aashirwad Swain, playing only his second first-class game, also applied himself, emerging as top-scorer with an unbeaten 37 off 82 balls.

Odisha, reduced to 76/8 at one stage, staged a mini recovery thanks to a 45-run ninth-wicket partnership between Swain and pacer Rajesh Mohanty, who swung his bat around to collect 28 with the help of 6 fours.

All wickets fell to medium-pacers with the inexperienced Abhishek Kumar bagging 4 and seasoned campaigner Rishi Dhawan claiming 3.

Odisha have lost 2 of their 3 matches and earned just 3 points courtesy first-innings lead in a drawn game.

Brief scores: Odisha 138 all out in 51 overs (Aashirwad Swain 37 not out, Rajesh Mohanty 28; Abhishek Kumar 4/39, Rishi Dhawan 3/35, Vaibhav Arora 2/20). Himachal Pradesh 80/1 in 29 overs.

Match to continue on Day 2.