A brilliant century by 21-year-old Haladhar Das helped Orissa get to 273 for 8 on the opening day of their four-day Group B Ranji Trophy Super League match against Punjab at the PCA Stadium in Chandigarh on Monday.
Orissa, put in to bat by Punjab at one stage were struggling at 4 for 50 before Rashmi Ranjan Parida (52), P Jayachandra (36) and topscorer Haladhar (100) bolstered their innings.
Parida and Jayachandra were associated in a 71-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Later Parida and Haladhar realised 78 runs for the seventh wicket.
For Punjab Gagandeep Singh (3 for 37) and 18-year-old Kangra-born Siddharth Kaul (4 for 58) were the most successful bowlers.
Scorecard:
Orissa (1st innings):
B Pati b G Singh 13
SS Das b S Kaul 19
N Behera lbw b G Singh 13
RR Parida c Sohal b Goel 52
RR Das c U Kaul b S Kaul 0
P Jayachandra b S Kaul 36
H Das c U Kaul b S Kaul 100
D Mohanty lbw b G Singh 12
S Sehgal not out 1
Extras: (b 10, lb 5, nb 12) 27
Total: (for 8 wickets in 86 overs) 273
Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-48, 3-50, 4-50, 5-121, 6-189, 7-267, 8-273
Bowling: G Singh 18-2-37-3, VRV Singh 15-1-68-0, S Kaul 20-6-58-4, R Inder 5-1-11-0, A Kakkar 13-2-40-0, C Singh 12-2-28-0, K Goel 3-0-16-1
