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Mohanty’s burst rattles Punjab
Veteran swing bowler Debashish Mohanty claimed his 400th first class wicket and helped Orissa storm back into the match against Punjab. The two Mohantys, Debashish and Basant, bowled fiery spells to end the day with Punjab reeling at 144 for 8, reports Ashutosh Sharma.
Veteran swing bowler Debashish Mohanty claimed his 400th first class wicket and helped Orissa storm back into the match against Punjab. The two Mohantys, Debashish and Basant, bowled fiery spells to end the day with Punjab reeling at 144 for 8.
Chasing 284 for a first-innings lead, Punjab have their backs to the wall and were lucky to survive the day even as play was called of an hour early due to bad light.
It was almost a repeat of last year's tie between the same teams. On that occasion Basant took seven wickets and shot out Punjab for only 60.
Making the most of overcast conditions Basant cleaned bowled Vishwas Bhalla for zero in just the second over to set the tone for the innings.
Punjab added just 14 runs to the team total when Basant struck again, removing Uday Kaul (8), who failed to read the incoming delivery and was bowled through the gap between bat and pad.
Taruwar Kohli and Ravi Inder Singh attempted to stop the slide and took the score past 50 before Basant returned to claim Kohli.
Skipper Pankaj Dharmani also could do little and after his dismissal to Basant Punjab slid further.
Batsman after batsman fell cheaply till Manpreet Gony hit some lusty shots and helped avert the follow-on. Basant finished the day with 4 for 44 runs while Debashish bagged 3 for 47.
