Bhubaneswar: Debutant Odisha pacer Sunil Kumar Roul turned on the heat at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium in Nadaun here on Wednesday to help Odisha restrict Himachal Pradesh’s first-innings lead to 67 runs in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A fixture.
The right-arm medium-pacer triggered a collapse which saw the home team losing its last seven wickets for the addition of just 25 runs.
Replying to Odisha’s 191, Himachal were cruising at 233 for 3, with centurion Prashant Chopra in full command. But once Chopra was trapped leg-before wicket by Roul, Himachal were bowled out for 258.
Roul bagged six of the last seven wickets to finish with dream figures of 6/62 in his maiden first-class match.
Openers Shantanu Mishra and Anurag Sarangi safely negotiated the remaining 13 overs on the second day as Odisha reached 29 without loss in the second innings.
Odisha, who are in desperate need of an outright win to stay alive in the race for a knockout berth, trail Himachal by 38 runs. With two days remaining, Odisha have to build up a decent lead and look to bowl out Himachal a second time.
Brief scores: Odisha 191 & 29/0 (Shantanu Mishara batting 15, Anurag Sarangi batting 14). Himachal Pradesh 258 (Prashant Chopra 138, Amit Kumar 46; Sunil Roul 6/62, Suryakant Pradhan 2/73).
Match to continue.
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