Orissa trail Karnataka by 67 runs on Day 2

Bhubaneswar: Stuart Binny led a disciplined Karnataka bowling attack to reduce Orissa to 211 for seven in reply to the visitors` 278 all out on the second day of their Group A Ranji Trophy Elite Division match on Wednesday.

Binny took three for 44 while his pace team-mates Santhebennur Akshay and Sreenath Aravind chipped in with two and one wicket respectively. Left-arm spinner K P Appanna also accounted for one Orissa batsmen. At stumps, Orissa still trail Karnataka by 67 runs in the first innings with three wickets in hand. Govind Podder was batting on 34 and giving him company was Basant Mohanty, who is yet to open his account. Orissa were in dire straits in the beginning of their reply as they were reduced to 63 for four before Biplab Samantray resurrected their innings with a well-made 65 which came from 127 balls with the help of 10 fours and a six. Opener Subhrajit Sahoo and Abhilash Mallick contributed 37 apiece to give the Orissa innings some sort of respectability. Earlier, Karnataka were bowled out for 278 in their first innings after resuming the day on 238 for six. Overnight batsman Muralidharen Gautam failed to add a single run to his yesterday`s 63 as he was out in the first over of the day, bowled by Basant Mohanty. Once Gautam was out, the tailenders found scoring tough as the home side could add just 40 runs at the expense of four wickets in 11.1 overs. Mohanty took three wickets today while Samantray scalped one to end with three wickets in the innings. Brief Scores: Karnataka 1st Innings: 278 all out in 101.1 overs (CM Gautam 63; Biplab Samantray 3/22, Basant Mohanty 3/54). Orissa: 1st Innings: 211 for 7 in 76 overs (Basant Samantray 65; Stuart Binny 3/44). PTI