Odisha U-16 boys cricket team secured one point by holding Rajasthan to a draw on the third and last day of their Vijay Merchant Trophy Elite Group-B match at Scindia School Cricket Ground in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh today. However, Rajasthan gained three points by taking the first-innings lead.
Electing to bat, Rajasthan rode on an explosive century by opener Gaurav Saini to compile a healthy total of 320. In reply, Odisha were bowled out for 146 with the help of a half-century by Ashutosh Kumar Naik. Forced to follow on, Odisha fought back to draw the match by making 308 for seven in the second innings.
Ashutosh slammed his second half-century in the match to spoil the hopes of an outright win for Rajasthan. He was associated in a 123-run partnership for the second-wicket with Aurobinda Muduli, who also contributed a half-century. Odisha will next meet Chhattisgarh at MPCA Ground in Morena, Madhya Pradesh from December 12 to 14.
SCORECARD
RAJASTHAN (1st innings): Gaurav Saini b Lenka 130, Darshan Pachar c N Mohanty b Lenka 28, Kumar Vasudev c Muduli b Lenka 7, Amarnath Singha c A Mohanty b Lenka 23, Anurag Lakhan c Muduli b G Sahoo 34, Yash Sharma (wk) st O Das b Gupta 24, Chetan Kumar c Gupta b Lenka 4, Shobhag Bhati (c) c A Mohanty b H Sahu 46, Prateek Choudhary b M Das 5, Rohan Choudhary b M Das 6, Anurag not out 1; Extras (b-8, nb-4) 12
Total (All out, 70.5 overs) 320
Fall of wickets: 1-108 (Pachar, 18.3 overs), 2-167 (Saini, 22.6), 3-168 (Vasudev, 24.2), 4-222 (Lakhan, 38.5), 5-250 (Sharma, 45.3), 6-250 (Singha, 46.4), 7-273 (Chetan, 54.1), 8-278 (P Choudhary, 55.5), 9-302 (R Choudhary, 65.1), 10-320 (Bhati, 70.5).
Bowling: Himnish Sahu 8.5-0-45-1, Gunjan Sahoo 10-0-47-1, Partha Sarathi Lenka 23-4-94-5, Mrutyunjay Das 16-5-47-2, Tapan Gupta 9-2-61-1, Neil Nitin Mohanty 3-0-17-0, Mrutyunjaya Tripathy 1-0-1-0.
ODISHA (1st innings): Anshuman Mohanty b P Choudhary 0, Ashutosh Kumar Naik b Anurag 69, Neil Nitin Mohanty (c) c Saini b P Choudhary 0, Partha Sarathi Lenka c Sharma b R Choudhary 0, Aurobinda Muduli c Sharma b R Choudhary 32, Mrutyunjaya Tripathy b Anurag 0, Om Prakash Das (wk) c Sharma b Anurag 24, Himnish Sahu c sub (Vashisht Sharma) b Anurag 0, Tapan Gupta not out 6, Gunjan Sahoo c sub (Vashisht Sharma) b Anurag 0, Mrutyunjay Das run out (Vasudev) 0; Extras (b-5, lb-9, w-1) 15
Total (All out, 61.3 overs) 146
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (A Mohanty, 0.5 over), 2-4 (N Mohanty, 4.6), 3-11 (Lenka, 7.4), 4-98 (Naik 37.6), 5-101 (Tripathy, 39.4), 6-140 (Muduli, 53.3), 7-140 (O Das, 54.1), 8-141 (H Sahu, 56.2), 9-141 (G Sahoo, 56.3), 10-146 (M Das, 61.3).
Bowling: Prateek Choudhary 9-4-23-2, Rohan Choudhary 15-7-23-2, Shobhag Bhati 10-2-27-0, Anurag 17-4-35-5, Anurag Lakhan 7.3-1-19-0, Ashish (C sub) 3-2-5-0.
ODISHA (2nd innings): Anshuman Mohanty run out (Vasudev) 18, Ashutosh Kumar Naik c Sharma b Anurag 86, Aurobinda Muduli run out (Pachar) 71, Neil Nitin Mohanty (c) c Bhati b Anurag 38, Om Prakash Das (wk) c Sharma b R Choudhary 7, Mrutyunjaya Tripathy c Lakhan b Bhati 22, Partha Sarathi Lenka b Anurag 1, Tapan Gupta not out 29, Himnish Sahu not out 21; Extras (b-14, w-1) 15
Total (7 wickets, 123 overs) 308
Did not bat: Gunjan Sahoo, Mrutyunjay Das
Fall of wickets: 1-37 (A Mohanty, 12.6 overs), 2-160 (Naik, 55.2), 3-215 (Muduli, 74.2), 4-231 (O Das, 84.1), 5-247 (N Mohanty 87.6), 6-257 (Tripathy 94.2), 7-257 (Lenka, 95.4).
Bowling: Prateek Choudhary 9-1-31-0, Rohan Choudhary 24-7-52-1, Anurag 40-13-78-3, Ashish (C sub) 11-3-25-0, Shobhag Bhati 18-7-48-1, Anurag Lakhan 18-5-35-0, Kumar Vasudev 2-0-17-0, Gaurav Saini 1-0-8-0.