Orissa bundle out Haryana but lose quick wickets in response

Haryana with just 3 points have no chance of qualifying for the knock out phase. Perhaps this explained their lacklustre batting effort against Orissa at Cuttack. What would have hurt more is the fact that Haryana won the toss and elected to bat.

A combination of some effective bowling by leg spinner Jagannath Das and a couple of run outs at the top of the innings stunned the Haryana innings. Only Padamjeet Singh (51) and Parender Sharma (40) were up to the task. The rest of the batting did not make scores worthy of mention. Being knocked out for just 206, Das was easily the pick of the bowlers with 4/62 off his 19.5 overs.

However, the drama was not over just then. After bowling Haryana out for a small score, it would have taken only a steady batting performance on Orissa's part to put them in command on the first day. However, they failed to do just that.

Orissa were required to play out just eight overs, and in that short period they suffered three causalities. Captain Shiv Sunder Das who has had a good season with the bat succumbed to Jain after he had made just 4 runs. P Das failed before he reached double figures and Orissa were in serious trouble at 12 for 2. In an attempt to stem the rot, Debashish Mohanty was sent as a nightwatchman. After surviving 15 balls without scoring, Mohanty was trapped LBW by Sonu Sharma adding to Orissa's woes. At the close of play Orissa were 17/3, not a position they would have envisaged after bowling the opposition out for 206.