Ranji Trophy 2019-20 : Pondicherry Vs Bihar (Main ul haq Stadium)
Patna, 09-12 Dec’19:
Pondicherrry bowlers who took charge immediately after the skipper Rohit put Bihar into bat and struck at regular interval to bundle the opponent for 173 in the first innings of the opening match of the Ranji season and winked to their own top order that it will be their turn while batting to deliver.
Though Bihar had a lukewarm opening partnership, there was no big partnership as the wickets fell at regular interval as the top half was dismissed when the score card was reading 116 for 5 and the bottom half was dismissed for the next 57 runs.
Sagar Udeshi bundles Bihar:
Having got inducted into Pondicherry team recently, Sagar Udeshi struck regularly with the support from the other end and returned with figures of 6 for 50 off 28 overs while Ashith and Fabid took two wickets each.
The monkey was off the back when Pondicherry started its reply to Bihar’s 173 and the openers were in no hurry to make any mistake. Opener Anand Subramanian scored 41 off 70 balls while his partner S.Karthick also scored 41 off 103 balls and set the going smooth for the rest. Though K.B.Arun Karthik departed early, Paras Dogra found skipper Rohit playing with his head down. After the departure of Rohit when the score was 147 for 4, Paras Dogra was well supported by the rest and he was out for 70 (9 fours and 2 sixes) and after his dismissal at 196 for 5, Ashith scored a comfortable 50 off 66 balls in the company of the tail enders and took Pondicherry to 300 all out in the first inning with a lead of 127 runs.
Second inning was no different for Bihar as they lost the opener Indrajit Kumar for naught off the second delivery of the innings and from there, they did not find any defence against Pondicherry attack with veteran Vinay Kumar and Sagar Udeshi striking regularly. With the fighting knock of Bihar keeper Vikash Ranjan, who remained unbeaten on 85, had partnership of 55 runs for the seventh wicket, but, when Vivek was out for 29 when the score was 152 for 7, the inevitable was written on the wall and Bihar was dismissed for 196 in their second innings, leaving Pondicherry to score 70 for a win.
Skipper Rohit senses the bonus point is there to grab:
Needing only 70 runs to win, Pondicherry skipper Rohit handed the responsibility to the experienced duo K.B.Arun Karthick and Paras Dogra to earn the bonus point by winning the match without losing any wicket. The challenge was well accepted by the experienced seniors, who took the team to 70 no loss; with K.B.Arun Karthick and Paras Dogra remained unbeaten on 28 and 42 respectively as Pondicherry earned 7 points.
With the three wicket haul in the second innings Pondicherry bowler Sagar Udeshi returned with a tally of 9 wickets for 105 runs in the match, while Vinay Kumar and Ashith took four wickets each to their tally.
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