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ShareAhmedabad: Gujarat began their Ranji Trophy campaign in style by bagging five crucial points against Orissa in their Elite Group match which ended on Friday. On the last day of the match at the Sardar Patel Stadium, Navrangpura, the home team registered a 159-run victory over Orissa, but not before Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel had some anxious moments.
Resuming on an overnight score of 10/1, the visitors lost this most consistent performer, Niranjan Behera, for one when Parthiv gracefully accepted a catch off the bowling of Siddharth Trivedi. Orissa then lost two quick wickets -- SS Das (11) and Paresh Patel (9) -- reducing them to 38/4. Das was bowled by Mehul Patel (3/21), who was the most impressive bowler of the match. At the stroke of lunch, Sudip Biswal's downfall left Orissa tottering at 84/5, chasing a mammoth 380.
It looked like Gujarat would bowl the visitors out before the tea break, and when a well-set Pravanjan Mullick became Orissa's sixth batsman to return to the dressing room with the score on 89, Gujarat were well within striking distance.
But the Orissa lower-order had different ideas. Rakesh Mohanty and wicketkeeper Subrajit Sahoo irritated Gujarat with a cautious approach. Mohanty entertained the crowd during his unbeaten 71. With the pitch playing a bit slow, Gujarat seemed to lose grip, but a brilliant catch by Hem Joshipura sent Sahoo back.
Former Test seamer Debashish Mohanty tried to hang around, as in the first innings, but he soon became Salil Yadav's first victim. This, however, turned out to be momentary as Rakesh and Basanth Mohanty consumed 14 overs in which they collected 46 runs for ninth wicket. As a result, the match was pushed into the mandatory over phase. Yadav finally cracked the code, trapping Basanth and Dhiraj Singh in front of the wickets and ending the Orissa innings at 220.
Happy with the win, Parthiv observed that there are a few grey areas which the team has to improve on. "The opening batting and fielding are our concerns. We have to improve," he said Parthiv. Gujarat face the mighty Tamil Nadu next.
Brief Scores: Gujarat: 270 and 301/6 declared. Orissa: 192 and 220 (R Mohanty 71*; M Patel 3/21, S Yadav 3/52)
