Bhargav Bhatt rolls over Odisha for 181
A round-up of the fifth round of Ranji Trophy's Group B matches on December 8, 2012
ESPNcricinfo staff
08-Dec-2012
Baroda left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt took six wickets to run through Odisha's middle order on the first day in Vadodara. Odisha's Govind Podder made a battling 82 but he had very little support from the rest of the batsmen, with five of the top seven making single-digit scores. Around lunch time, Odisha were at a reasonably comfortable 82 for 2, before a Bhatt double-strike, including the wicket of the in-form Biplab Samantary, pulled them back. Bhatt struck twice in an over soon after leaving Odisha at 105 for 6, and it took a brisk unbeaten 37 from the No. 9 Saurabh Sehgal to take the score to 181. Baroda lost the wicket of opener Saurabh Wakaskar as they reached 34 for 1 by stumps.
Suresh Raina fluffed another chance to press for a place in the Test middle order by falling for 8, but Uttar Pradesh still finished the day on a solid 248 for 4 thanks to a long partnership between Mohammad Kaif and opener Mukul Dagar. Vidarbha removed Tanmay Srivastava in the third over, before Kaif and Dagar put on 195 patient runs for the second wicket. Dagar went on to complete his third century in five matches, while for the third time this Ranji season Kaif failed to reach his hundred despite crossing 80. Vidarbha got some respite towards the end of the day as Sandeep Singh removed both Kaif and Raina, before Shrikant Wagh had Dagar bowled for 116.
Haryana's batting has been notoriously fragile this season, and they seemed headed for another low total after slipping to 63 for 4 against Maharashtra, but substantial contributions from the lower-middle order lifted them to a middling score. Opener Rahul Dewan was the only one in the top order to resist as Maharashtra's quicks struck several times early. Yatharth Tomar, playing only his second first-class match and his first since 2010, hit 48 to steady the innings before Amit Mishra, who made a crucial half-century in their win over Delhi earlier this week, chipped in with 35. The top scorer of the innings was Jayant Yadav, with 63, his second first-class half-century.
On a pitch that resembled a lawn, with the only patches of white near the rough on either side, Karnataka captain Vinay Kumar chose to give his batsmen first use of the pitch, despite their batting struggles all season. While it might be perceived as a brave decision, it backfired on the hosts. Karnataka were still searching for their first outright win, and they were presented with what looked like a result-oriented wicket. Delhi weren't complaining though. Their seamers, led by Parvinder Awana, bundled out the hosts for 192 and ended the day in front despite losing two wickets as the shadows lengthened in Bangalore. A full match report is here.