Raul spares Orissa's blushes

Sanjay Raul played a lone hand with a gallant unbeaten 108 as Orissa folded up for 241 in 84 overs on the opening day of their Super League engagement against Uttar Pradesh at the Green Park in Kanpur today. The hosts played out four overs without any mishap to close the day at 8/0.

Orissa skipper Shiv Sunder Das, coming off a fine showing in the Challenger series, won the toss and batted. He failed however to set an example for his mates, being the first to depart for 23. Pravanjan Mullick and Rashmi Ranjan Parida also fell cheaply for 16 apiece. It was left to Raul to salvage a semblance of honour for his team. In his three and three quarters of an hour vigil at the crease he faced 198 balls and struck 14 fours. UP captain Gyanendra Pandey was the most successful bowler with 4/42.