Cuttack: Deepak Behera took a six-wicket haul as Odisha bundled out Uttar Pradesh for a meagre 160 and then themselves slumped to 70 for five on the opening day of their last Ranji Trophy Group B league match, here on Saturday.
Apart from fast bowler Deepak Behera, who gave away just 37 run in his 17.5 overs while claiming six wickets, Basant Mohanty (2/28) and Biplab Samantray (2/30) took two wickets each after Odisha invited the visitors to bat.
Akshdeep Nath was the highest scorer for UP with his 37-run knock, while Mukul Dagar (29) and Ali Murtaza (24) chipped in with some notable contributions.
The only other UP batsman who could reach the double figures was Tanmay Srivastava (16).
UP, however, did not have a bad start as they reached 59 without any loss for the opening wicket, but the opener Srivastava`s dismissal triggered the collapse and the visitors went on to lose two more wickets at the same score.
Hence, from 59 for no wicket, they were suddenly struggling at 59 for three.
Thereafter, the host bowlers tightened the noose and UP kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
In reply to UP`s modest first innings total, Odisha got off to a poor start losing both the openers -- Sandeep Mulia (8) and Natraj Behera (6) -- cheaply.
Although Niranjan Behera (17) tried to consolidate the innings for a while but two more wickets fell at the other end.
Before the end of the day`s play, Niranjan also got out.
At stumps on day one, Halhadar Das was unbeaten on 15 and Biplab Samantray was not out on four.
Brief scores:
Uttar Pradesh: 160 all out in 61 overs (Akshdeep Nath 37, Mukul Dagar 29; Deepak Behera 6/37).
Odisha: 70 for five in 23 overs (Niranjan Behera 17; Imtiaz Ahmed 2/29).
PTI
First Published: Saturday, December 29, 2012, 19:01