Nagpur: Odisha enjoyed a good opening session on the second day of their Ranji Trophy clash against champions Vidarbha, thanks to young medium-pacers Sambit Baral and Badal Biswal, but were pushed to the back foot by stumps on Sunday.
Having dismissed Vidarbha for 286, Odisha lost crucial wickets during the closing overs to slump to 122/6.
Gourav Choudhury (24) and Swastik Samal (9) gave Odisha a slow but solid start with a 33-run opening partnership. Then, in the space of three balls, both openers were back in the hut at the same score.
Sandeep Pattanaik (16) and skipper Subhranshu Senapati (41) tried to steady the ship, taking the total to 64, before Vidarbha struck, seeing the back of Pattanaik and Rajesh Dhuper (8).
Experienced campaigners Senapati and Govinda Poddar seemed to have ensured no further damage for Odisha, but debutant left-arm spinner Gaurav Farde had other ideas. The 21-year-old Farde castled the well-set Senapati (41 off 112 balls) 10 minutes before stumps, and then had Poddar (17 off 66) caught behind by Akshay Wadkar with what turned out to be the last ball of the day.
In the morning, Odisha did well to restrict Vidarbha’s first innings as the home team resumed on 234/5 and was bowled out for 286 at VCA Stadium in Jamtha, Nagpur.
Once Biswal dismissed Shorey (128* overnight), the floodgates opened. Biswal bagged 2 and Baral claimed 3 to polish off the Vidarbha innings.
BRIEF SCORES
Vidarbha first innings: 286 (Dhruv Shorey 144; Sambit Baral 3/69, Tapas Das 2/33, Rajesh Mohanty 2/57).
Odisha first innings: 122/6 (Subhranshu Senapati 41; Gaurav Farde 2/20).
Match to continue on Day 3.
