Ranji Trophy: Mohanty’s swansong ends with an Odisha win; Roul takes six wickets

Odisha’s Basant Mohanty, who finished his domestic career with 403 wickets, was carried on shoulders with his team beating Bengal by seven wickets.

Mohanty, whose first-ever wicket was Manoj Tiwary in 2007, also became his last victim, 16 years later, in the Ranji Trophy match against Bengal. | Photo Credit: CAB Media

Rookie pacer Sunil Roul’s six-wicket haul enabled Odisha to secure a seven-wicket win over Group-A topper Bengal in the Ranji Trophy match at the Eden Gardens here on Friday and pay a fitting tribute to old pro Basant Mohanty on his farewell outing.

Bengal, beginning from 220 for three after following on, was all out for 276 in its second innings.

Odisha, chasing 112, overhauled the target within an hour of the post-lunch session on the final day. It was Odisha’s first win and Bengal’s first loss.

In the morning, Bengal opener Abhimanyu Easwaran, resuming from overnight 94, scored his third Ranji and sixth first class century of the season before being caught in the second slip off Roul, who had claimed the wicket of Sudip Gharami on the previous evening.

Captain Manoj Tiwary, who began from 50, was caught at point on 52 to become Mohanty’s 403rd victim.

Incidentally, Tiwary was Mohanty’s maiden wicket on the medium pacer’s debut at Siliguri in 2007. Odisha had won that match by six wickets.

Roul, who had a six-wicket haul on his debut earlier this month, impressed with his line, length and movement and dismissed Suvankar Bal, Pritam Chakraborty and Geet Puri cheaply.

Abishek Porel (38, 30b, 8x4) played a typical stroke-filled knock before mistiming Roul to short cover. Roul joined his team-mates, who carried Mohanty off the field on their shoulders.

Anustup Majumdar, nursing an injured thumb, did not bat in the second innings as well. Anurag Sarangi (37, 61b, 8x4), Subhranshu Senapati (22, 18b, 4x4), Sandeep Pattnaik (28 n.o., 27b, 5x4) and debutant Rakesh Pattnaik (20 n.o., 12b, 1x4, 2x6) ensured Odisha’s victory.

Even though the Bengal team management wished for the quarterfinal against Jharkhand at Kalyani, the broadcaster wanted the Eden as the venue due to the availability of better logistics for the live coverage.

The scores:

Bengal -- 1st innings: 100

Odisha -- 1st innings: 265

Bengal -- 2nd innings: Karan Lal c Shantanu b Mohanty 8, Abhimanyu Easwaran c Shantanu b Roul 101, Sudip Gharami lbw b Roul 50, Suvankar Bal c Dhuper b Roul 4, Manoj Tiwary c Rakesh b Mohanty 52, Abishek Porel c Rakesh b Roul 38, Akash Ghatak c Dhuper b Pradhan 5, Pritam Chakraborty b Roul 1, Geet Puri (c sub) lbw b Roul 0, Ishan Porel (not out) 0, Anustup Majumdar (absent hurt) 0, Extras (b-2, lb-10, nb-1, w-4) 17, Total (in 79 overs) 276

Fall of wickets: 1-29, 2-111, 3-117, 4-229, 5-239, 6-264, 7-267, 8-267, 9-276

Odisha bowling: Pradhan 15-1-47-1, Mohanty 20-10-33-2, Roul 27-5-96-6, Prayas 12-1-55-0, Senapati 2-0-14-0, Poddar 3-0-19-0

Odisha -- 2nd innings: Anurag Sarangi c Chakraborty b Ghatak 37, Shantanu Mishra c Karan b Ishan 4, Subhranshu Senapati b Ghatak 22, Sandeep Pattnaik (not out) 28, Rakesh Pattnaik (not out) 20, Extras (lb-1) 1, Total (for three wickets in 22.2 overs) 112

Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-51, 3-78

Bengal bowling: Ishan 5-1-22-1, Chakraborty 4-2-6-0, Puri (c. sub) 6-1-39-0, Ghatak 6-1-29-2, Karan 1-0-14-0, Gharami 0.2-0-1-0.