Odisha collects solitary point as Ranji game against Baroda ends in draw

Vadodara: Odisha secured a solitary point in its fifth Ranji game of the season against Baroda that ended in a draw as the home team scored 259/1 in their second innings at stumps on the final day to garner 3 points.

Odisha invited Baroda to bat first on Day 1 but failed to leave any impression with the new ball as the Baroda openers added 152 runs together. Kedar Devdhar scored a hundred while Aditya Waghmode contributed 52. Coming out to bat at number 3, Vishnu Solanki scored 109. Captain Deepak Hooda also went on to a score a fifty in the middle-order. N A Rathwa's quick fire 115 took Baroda to a mammoth total of 503 despite Basant Mohanty's five-wicket haul. Suryakanta Pradhan scalped two wickets while Alok Sahoo, Biplab Samantaray and Govinda Poddar picked up one apiece.

In reply to Baroda's huge total, Odisha started off on a poor note  by losing wickets of Sandeep Pattnaik (13) and Govinda Poddar (19) early in the innings. After Natraj Behera's dismissal, two youngsters Subhranshu Senapati and Shantanu Mishra stitched a partnership worth 103 runs for the fourth wicket. Shantanu was dismissed for 46 while Subhranshu continued with experienced Biplab Samantaray at the other end and went on to score his second first-class century.

On the penultimate day, Biplab went back into the hut soon after getting to his fifty. Subhranshu and hero of the previous match Rajesh Dhuper took Odisha to a comfortable position at lunch on the final day. The second session turned out to be pathetic for the visitors as they lost last five wickets for only 23 runs. Subhranshu and Rajesh were dismissed for 173 and 86 respectively after adding 150 runs for the sixth wicket. Odisha was bowled out for 445 and hence conceded 58-run first innings lead to the home side.

Baroda top-order batsman enjoyed their stint in the final hours of the match and scored at a good rate against a relatively out of form bowling attack. Aditya Waghmode (101*) and Deepak Hooda (100*) scored centuries while Vishnu Solanki was the only batsman dismissed for 53 by Dhiraj Singh.

With six points from five games, Odisha continues to remain at the sixth position with no chance of qualifying for the next round of this year's Ranji Trophy. Team Odisha will play its last game against Madhya Pradesh in Indore from October 25.