Surya, Alok bowls Odisha to win over Assam

Superb hauls by pacers Suryakant Pradhan and Alok Chandra Sahoo powered Odisha to a six-wicket win over Assam on the last day of their four-day Zone A match of the KSCA Dr (Capt) K Thimmappiah Memorial Cricket Tournament at Aditya Global (T) ground in Bangalore today. Alok set up the platform for victory, bagging six wickets in the first innings and Suryakant finished it, scalping seven wickets in the second essay.

Electing to bat, Assam slumped from 41 for no loss to 66 for six befor folding up for a modest 133. Making a successful return to Odisha team after a gap of one-and-half years, allrounder Alok bowled on right areas to reap a rich harvest. His statemate Jayant Behera also proved very effective with his left-arm spin, picking up two wickets for eight runs. His eight-over effort included eight maidens.

In reply, Odisha mustered a healthy total of 275 to take sizeable lead of 142 runs. Abhilash Mallick was the top scorer for Odisha with a breezy 42 (24b, 3x4, 4x6). Among other notable run-getters, Alok contributed a responsible 37 off 103 balls, while Anurag Sarangi and vice-captain Govind Poddar made 35 and 32 respectively. The bowling performance of Assam proved to be poor as they conceded 55 extra runs, including 18 as penalty.

Putting up much better batting performance in the second innings, Assam compiled a fighting total of 232. The highlight of the innings was a 124-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Amit Verma and Gokul Sharma. The former missed out on century by six runs (94 off 195b, 12x4, 1x6), while the latter slammed 56 (138b, 8x4, 1x6).

Chasing modest target of 90, Odisha were in a spot of bother, losing four wickets for 40 runs in the second innings. However, an unfinished stand of 50 runs for the fifth wicket between captain Biplab Samantray and Girija Rout helped them start the season on a winning note. The convincing win fetched Odisha six points, while Assam drew blank.

Pacers played instrumental role in the Odisha win, bagging all 10 wickets in the second innings and 18 in the match. Pradhan was most successful among the pace trio, finishing with a match haul of nine for 101, while Alok Sahoo returned with eight for 99. New wicketkeeper Rajesh Dhuper was another notable performer for Odisha, taking four catches in the first innings and five in the match. Odisha will next meet host KSCA XI from July 27 to 30.
SCOREBOARD
ASSAM (1st innings): Pallab Das c Dhuper b Behera 32, Hrishikesh Tamuly b Sahoo 15, Sib Sankar Roy c A Singh b Sahoo 3, Amit Verma c Dhuper b Pradhan 5, Gokul Sharma lbw Pradhan 19, Tajinder Singh lbw Behera 0, Amit Sinha c Dhuper b Sahoo 4, Sarupam Purakayastha c P Das b Sahoo 29, Pritam Das c Dhuper b Sahoo 16, Arup Das c Pradhan b Sahoo 6, Krishna Das (not out) 0; Extras (lb-2, nb-1, w-1) 4
Total (all out; 61.4 overs) 133
Fall of wickets: 1-41, 2-45, 3-57, 4-57, 5-57, 6-66, 7-107, 8-113, 9-133, 10-133
Bowling: Basant Mohanty 17-7-33-0, Suryakant Pradhan 17-3-45-2, Alok Sahoo 18.4-4-45-6, Jayant Behera 9-8-8-2.
ODISHA (1st innings): Girija Rout c Tamuly b Pritam Das 12, Rajesh Dhuper lbw Arup Das 15, Govind Poddar b Arup Das 32, Anurag Sarangi c Pallab Das b Krishna Das 35, Biplab Samantray b Purakayastha 19, Abhilash Mallick c Tarjinder b Purakayastha 42, Prateek Das c Tamuly b Krishna Das 0, Alok Sahoo lbw Krishna Das 37, Suryakant Pradhan c Bhumij b Pritam Das 5, Basant Mohanty c Tamuly b Arup Das 19, Jayant Behera (not out) 4; Extras (b-18, lb-2, nb-16, w-1, penalty-18) 55
Total (all out; 86.1 overs) 55
Fall of wickets: 1/17, 2-31, 3-98, 4-121, 5-170, 6-171, 7-179, 8-193, 9-253, 10-257
Bowling: Arup Das 22.2-3-51-3, Krishna Das 22-5-64-3, Pritam Das 13-3-44-2, Sarupam Purakayastha 22-7-67-2, Pallab Kumar Das 4-1-9-0, Amit Sinha 3-1-2-0
ASSAM (2nd innings): Pallab Das c Poddar b Pradhan 2, H Tamuly c Mohanty b Pradhan 9, S S Roy c Dhuper b Pradhan 16, Tarjinder Singh lbw Mohanty 9, Amit Verma c Mallick b Sahoo 94, Gokul Sharma c Behera b Pradhan 65, S Purakayastha c Sahoo b Pradhan 1, A Sinha c Samantaray b Sahoo 0, Pritam Das c Samantray b Pradhan 0, Arup Das c Poddar b Pradhan 9, K Das (not out) 0; Extras (b-9, lb-9, nb-7, w-2) 25
Total (all out; 84.31 overs) 232
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-15, 3-36, 4-46, 5-170, 6-172, 7-173, 8-178, 9-232, 10-232
Bowling: Suryakant Pradhan 22.3-6-56-7, Alok Sahoo 15-2-54-2, Basant Mohanty 18-9-25-1, Prateek Das 1-0-2-0, Jayant Behera 19-5-55-0, G Poddar 9-3-22-0.
ODISHA (2nd innings): G Poddar c Bhumij b K Das 13, R Dhuper c Tamuly b Pritam Das 8, A Sarangi c A Das b Pritam Das 10, A Mallick c Sinha b K Das 3, B Samantaray (not out) 28, G Rout (not out) 26; Extras (nb-1, w-1) 2
Total (4 wkts; 14.3 overs) 90
Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-22, 3-29, 4-40
Bowling: Arup Das 1.3-0-19-0, K Das 6-0-36-2, Pritam Das 6-0-24-2, S Purakayastha 1-0-11-0