Mallick spearheads gritty Orissa show

Put into bat by hosts’ skipper Karun Nair, Orissa, after losing opener Kameswar Barrick early in the day, recovered through the second-wicket association between Girja Rout and Abhilasa Mallick who put on 69 runs between them.

Abhilasa made 75 off 133 balls including 14 fours and a six while Rout made 41 (88b, 6x4). Third-wicket stand between Abhilasa and Gobind Poddar (42, 64b, 7x4) yielded 81 while the fifth-wicket association saw 67 runs being scored.

At stumps, Anurag Saragi was batting on 48 and Priyatosh Parmanik was on 6 were looking to build further on the good work.

For Karnataka, paceman Magihezendan was the pick of the bowlers claiming 2/71 while Pawan Deshpande and Nair picked up a wicket each.

Brief scores: Orissa: 275/5 in 90 overs (Girja Rout 41, Abhilasa Mallick 75, Gobind Poddar 42, Aanurag Saragi 48 batting, Arvind Singh 42; Magihezendan 2-71) vs Karnataka.