Gujarat bowlers made good use of the slow track to tilt the balance of the Ranji Trophy Elite group match against Orissa in the favour of the home team. At the stumps on second day, Gujarat were four without loss in the second innings, an overall lead of 82.
Gujarat added 33 runs to its overnight total of 237 for seven. A small cameo of 22 from Siddharth Trivedi was instrumental in this as Gujarat lost Ashraf Makda (31) in the day's first over.
Orissa lost captain and seasoned campaigner SS Das for a duck. BS Pati (24) and Niranjan Behera (78) tried to snatch the initiative from Gujarat by some aggressive batting, but debutant Mehul Patel got rid of Pati to break a threatening partnership. Mehul was confident and aggressive and claimed two wickets. Pati's departure triggered a mini collapse and Orissa were soon four down for 45.
Behera, who has been a consistent performer for Orissa for the last two seasons, again emerged as a saviour. He was involved in two crucial partnerships. With Rakesh Mohanty (34), he raised 55 runs for the fifth wicket and added 54 runs with Debashish Mohanty (26) for the eighth wicket to bring some respectability to Orissa's innings. Behera punished Trivedi when he strayed in line and then showed his nimble footwork by lofting spinner Salil Yadav.
Timil Patel, who appeared ineffective in his first spell, finally removed Behera and Orissa were bowled out for 192, 78 short of Gujarat's 270. "Losing early wickets built pressure on the middle order which resulted in the collapse," said Behera, who praised Debashis Mohanty for his batting effort.
Brief Scores: Gujarat: 270 and 4/0; Orrisa: 192 (N Behera 78, R Mohanty 34; S Trivedi 2/19)
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