Battling Odisha gain innings lead

A stubborn fightback from Odisha’s lower middle-order, led by Biplab Samantray and wicket-keeper Saurabh Rawat, dampened Karnataka’s spirits. It fetched the unfancied rivals the first innings lead on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Group B contest at the Palam ground on Tuesday.

Karnataka, spurred by leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal (5-73), had reduced Odisha to 79/5 in the morning. But Samantray dug deep into the reservoir of his experience to stitch two crucial partnerships. He raised 61 runs for the sixth wicket with left-handed Abhishek Yadav before paving the way for Odisha’s dominance with Rawat.

The solid 106-run seventh wicket partnership between Samantray (58, 190b, 6x4) and Rawat (85, 124b, 12x4, 1x6) tested the strong Karnataka attack, which despite bending its back, struggled to break the deadlock. With Odisha batsmen comfortably picking the lengths, it turned out to be a long day for Karnataka on the field.

Even the last-wicket stand between Basant Mohanty (16) and Alok Mangaraj (10) raised 26 runs when stumps were drawn. The two would be around when Odisha begins the third day at 318/9 and armed with a handsome first innings lead of 139.

Resuming at 42/2, Odisha captain Govind Poddar and nightwatchman Dhiraj Singh stretched their third-wicket partnership to 39, due to some sloppy work on field. Dhiraj was dropped at mid-off by Sreenath Arvind to extend his shaky stay. Poddar stroked a few crisp drives before stepping out to loft Gopal over mid-wicket. He missed and found his bails cleaned in a flash by CM Gautam. Two overs later Dhiraj edged Gopal to second slip.

Subhranshu Senapati decided to go for a cut shot, but was bowled by off-spinner K Gowtham. Karnataka, who had struggled with the bat on the opening day, appeared to be back in the contest. With Odisha reeling at 125/5, they went for the luncheon break with optimism.

The pairing of Samantray and Yadav, however, put up stoic resistance. And though Yadav didn't stay for long, Rawat turned out to be the perfect foil for Samantray. Runs trickled in slowly in the second period, 66 to be precise, but Odisha didn’t lose any further wicket. Karnataka’s first innings total was soon surpassed, following Rawat’s pull to the fence in the 76th over, and they went into tea break on a high at 191/6.

Under the calming influence of Samantray, Rawat freely went for his strokes and once he got into a rhythm, he batted with assurance. A frustrated Karnataka even went to the extent of employing two short legs for Rawat off Gopal in the final session. Karnataka took the new ball in the 83rd over, but that didn’t stop the two from bringing their half centuries.  It was only in the 95th over that Samantray erred in judgment, and perished with a mistimed stroke to mid-off.

Suryakant Pradhan's short stay witnessed two long sixes, one of them breaking the window panes of the officials’ room, before Gopal trapped him leg before. Gopal then took the prized wicket of Rawat. The wicket-keeper batsman stepped out for a forward defence but ended up edging to Gautam. Karnataka’s job, though, remains far from over.