Ranji Trophy: Gujarat take upper hand against Odisha

JAIPUR: On Friday, Odisha's opening bowler Suryakant Pradhan was running in, trying to bounce the batsmen but to no effect. Although he bowled his heart out, he didn't pick up a wicket. On Saturday, he decided to have some fun - his idea of fun - hitting four sixes in one over at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here.
It was the 54th over of the day and Odisha had already lost seven wickets and they hadn't even made half the runs that their opponents Gujarat had accumulated in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match.But, Pradhan unleashed himself on the left-arm spin of Hardik Patel to the delight of a small spectator presence.
The first and the third balls were hit powerfully straight down the ground over the side screen, in between Hardik bowled a faster delivery just to change things around. The fourth ball was a dot ball but fifth's fate was also just in front of the sightscreen for the maximum. The sixth went into the stands a little square over the mid-on boundary. By the time he finished at 47, he had hit another six to go with his two fours and all of that in just 27 balls at a whopping strike-rate of 174.07.
That was the high point of the day for Odisha, who otherwise were pegged back by Gujarat as they finished Day 2 on Saturday at 184 for 8, still trailing by 79 runs to the Parthiv Patel-led side.