Nadaun/Hamirpur: Captain Rishi Dhawan and top order batter Ankit Kalsi unbeaten 165 help the Himachal Cricket team to register their second win in the Ranji Trophy 2022-23. Himachal beat visitor Orrisa by 3 wickets.
Chasing 310 on the last day of the match, the Himachal Cricket team was once four down for 10 runs.
Dhawan and Kalsi played cautiously and added 203 runs for the 5th wicket partnership and take team score to 213. Dhawan got out after making fighting 102 runs. The team still needed 97 runs to win this important match, but the next batter Mayank Dagar bowled out without adding any runs on the board. Keeper Praveen Thakur also failed to impress and could add only 5 runs. However, on the otherside Ankit Kalsi kept the hope of the host alive. Kalsi and Vinay Galetiya played sensibly and take Himachal home.
Kalsi made an unbeaten 165 and also adjusted Man of the Match.
Earlier, Himachal bowled well in the first inning and bundled visitor Orrisa for 191. In the first inning, Himachal scored 258, and opener batter Prashant Chopra made impressive 138 runs. However, none of the other batters were seem confident against seamer Sunil Roul led bowling attack. Sunil took 6 wickets.
In the second inning, Orrisa succeeded to put challenging 374 runs on the board. Once five for 120, Govinda Poddar 135, Prayansh 73 and 50 quickfire runs from Pradhan’s bat put Orissa’s team in a commanding position.
Orrisa: 1st Inning: 191, Shantanu Mishra – 52: Vaibhav Arora: 5/51
Himachal 1st Inning: 258, Prashant Chopra 138: Sunil Roul: 6/62
Orrisa 2nd Inning: Govinda Poddar 135, Prayansh 73, Suryakant Pradhan 50: Vinay: 2/58
Himachal 2nd Inning: Ankit Kalsi 165, Rishi Dhawan 102: Basant Mohanti 3/40
