Surya shines bright for Odisha

Kolkata: The sun chose to remain behind the foggy curtain throughout the day at Chaudhari Bansi Lal stadium in Lahli but for Odisha it was a bright Sunday as medium pacer Suryakant Pradhan & Co skittled out Haryana for a paltry 127 on Sunday. The visitors then ended the day on 39 with openers Natraj Behera unbeaten on 39 and Girija Rout batting on seven.
Opting to bowl first on a seamer-friendly track, skipper Abhilash Mallick’s decision was vindicated soon enough as pacer Basant Mohanty breached through the defences of opener Nitin Saini in the seventh over.The right hander’s departure brought Sunny Gupta to the crease and, in no time, the hosts’ skipper found himself castled by the impressive Pradhan for one. With the ball seaming and swinging around alarmingly for the batsmen, wickets continued to fall at regular intervals as Mohanty, Pradhan and all-rounder Deepak Behera ran through the Haryana batting line-up, grabbing three scalps apiece.
Lefthander Abhimanyu Khod top-scored for Haryana with a patient 38, while the next highest score came from India medium-pacer Mohit Sharma who thrashed a quickfire 19 in just 12 balls. Unlike their previous two outings in the current season, the Odisha openers, for once, decided to apply themselves at the wicket as they ended Day I proceedings on 39 runs. With Behera and Rout (6) holding fort, the tourists can look forward to a commanding second day of the encounter.
Talking to TOI after the day’s play, captain Abhilash Mallick was happy that finally they could implement their plans on the field. “After two matches, all three medium pacers bowled in tandem to get the wickets. It is a bowler-friendly track but the bowlers still have to put the balls in the areas,” said Mallick.
Complementing his bowlers for their stupendous performance, Mallcik said: “(Basant) Mohanty has been the backbone of our bowling but Surya and Behera bowled well too. It’s a very crucial match for us and we cannot slip up. We have to go for the six points. That’s solely on our minds.”
With the fielding too showing signs of improvement, Mallick is confident the team has turned the corner. “After watching the scorecards of the previous matches this is sure to give us a boost.” Having already grabbed the initiative, it would be expected of the tourists to finally walk the talk in opposition territory.