Odisha bowlers came up with a brilliant performance to help visitors close in on victory against Haryana on the third and penultimate day of their Ranji Trophy Group B cricket match here today.
Odisha need to chase down a target of only 39 runs for an outright win, after they managed to bundle out Haryana for a mere 143 in their second innings.
Having restricted Haryana for 127 all out in their first essay, Odisha went on to take a 105-run lead, having declared their first innings on 232 for nine.
Odisha started their day today by declaring their first innings and then took all ten Haryana wickets to take control of the match.
Deepak Behera (4/22), Basant Mohanty (3/67) and Suryakant Pradhan (2/32) wreaked havoc as the three bowlers shared nine wickets among them by giving away just 121 runs.
Tailender Amit Mishra top scored for Haryana with 37.
Chasing a small total, Odisha lost a wicket in the form of opener Natraj Behera for a duck before the stumps were drawn.
At the close of play, Odisha were eight for one with opener Girjia Rout yet to open his account and Govinda Podder unbeaten at six.
Odisha require only 31 more runs with nine wickets in hand and a full day to go. But since they have already lost a wicket, the visitors will not be able to earn a bonus point from this game.
For acquiring the bonus point, a team needs to win by an innings or 10 wickets.
Brief scores:
Haryana: 127 & 143 (Amit Mishra 37, Deepak Behera 4/22, Basant Mohanty 3/67, Suryakant Pradhan 2/32).
Odisha: 232 for 9 decl. & 8 for one in 2 overs.
