Bhubaneswar: Subhranshu Senapati (87, 136b, 14×4) scored a fighting half century to help Odisha avoid a humiliation in front of home crowd as they were bowled out for 256 from 107/5 at lunch on the opening day of their second Elite Group C match against Uttar Pradesh at the KIIT Stadium here, Monday. In reply, UP were 42/1 at stumps, 214 runs behind the hosts’ first innings total.
Replaying to Odisha’s first innings total of 256, UP dealt with an early blow when seasoned pacer Basant Mohanty (1/15), who came into the match in place of Suryakant Pradhan, dismissed opener Upendra Yadav (1) in the third over.
However, Odisha bowlers couldn’t find another breakthrough in spite of some tight bowling as the other opener Madhav Kaushik (16 batting) and last match centurion Mohammad Saif (24 batting) held their nerves, ensuring the visitors of no more hiccups on the day before umpires called off the day after 18 overs of play.
Earlier, after put into bat by the visiting skipper Akshdeep Nath, Odisha had a disastrous start as openers Anurag Sarangi and Sandeep Pattnaik became the early victims of Ankit Rajpoot (3/61). The hosts were reduced to 10/2 in the fifth over.
The situation could have been worse had Govind Poddar, who captained the side last season, and Subhranshu not steadied the ship. The duo forged a 45-run third wicket partnership. In fact Govind, with his aggressive strokeplay, kept the scoreboard ticking while Subhranshu tried to settle in with ones and twos.
However, just as it looked Govind would go for a bigger score, the right-handed batsman fell to an incoming delivery by Yash Dayal (3/62).
Then skipper Biplab Samantray (12), who had yet another tough task in hand, came into the middle and along with Subhranshu added 48 runs for the fourth wicket.
The things got worsened for the hosts when they lost Biplab and next man Santanu Mishra in span of four runs, both of Nath deliveries, as Odisha went into lunch with the scoreboard reading 107/5.
After the lunch, Subhranshu and Sujit Lenka (46, 98b, 4×4) picked ones and twos more often with some occasional boundaries. The duo put together 66 runs for the sixth wicket. Desperate to get a wicket Nath brought in Rajpoot and Shivam Mavi (0/47).
The move paid off soon as Rajpoot picked up a well settled Subhranshu depriving the right-hander a well-deserved century. Sujit then added 52 runs for the seventh wicket with Debabrata Pradhan (24) before Rajesh Mohanty’s (23) cameo enabled the hosts to go past 250-run mark.
Brief scores: Odisha 256 (Subhranshu Senapati 87; Ankit Rajpoot 3/61); UP 42/1 (Basant Mohanty 1/15). Match to continue.