Ranji Trophy: Gobind, Niranjan save the blushes for Odisha

OST Sports Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Jan 2:

A marathon innings by opener Gobind Poddar followed and a breezy half century by Niranjan Behera helped Odisha force a draw against Haryana on the final day of the Ranji Trophy Group-A match at the East Coast Railway Sports Association (ECORSA) stadium here on Thursday.

The visitors, however, got three points on the basis of their first innings lead while Odisha had to remain content with just one point.

Resuming their second innings at the overnight score of 19 without loss in reply to Haryana’s first innings score of 626 for 4 declared, Odisha lost their first wicket at 37 when Girija Rout was trapped leg before by a delivery from Joginder Sharma.

Though the Haryana bowlers tried their best for a breakthrough, Niranjan Behera and Poddar held firm taking the score to 157 with a partnership of 120 runs.

Odisha were in trouble after the dismissal of Behera as three more wickets fell quickly.  While Abhilash Mallick was run out for no score, skipper Biplab Samantray was dismissed for one.

Poddar, who played a marathon knock of 79 in his 308-minute stay at the wicket, was trapped leg before by Mohit Sharma leaving the team score at 221 for 6.

However, Natraj Behera and Haladhar Das took the team to safety with a 38-run partnership before the former was dismissed by Jayant Yadav for 26.

For Haryana, Joginder Sharma and Jayant Yadav claimed two wickets each while Mohit Sharma took one.