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Odisha blown away for 37; lodges complaints

Bengal wrapped up what was meant to be a four-day Ranji Trophy contest in just one and a half day after they blew away Odisha for an unbelievable 37, prompting a livid visiting team to lodge a complaint about the nature of the pitch with BCCI.

Hosts Bengal comfortably won the Group A match by 133 runs at the Bengal Cricket Academy (BCA) ground that resembled a minefield. Interestingly, the venue was hosting its first first-class match.

It was pacer Ashoke Dinda who wreaked havoc with figures of 7/19, including a hat-trick, as Odisha were bundled out in only 19.2 overs in pursuit of their victory target of 171. Bengal managed 142 and 135 in their two innings with eight of their batsmen failing to score a single run across both innings.

It was one of the lowest scores in the history of Ranji Trophy and easily the worst of the season so far in the country’s premier domestic tournament.

So livid were the Odisha team after the game that their skipper Natraj Behera and OCA secretary Asirbad Behera confirmed that they were lodging an official complaint about the nature of the strip. A fuming Odisha Cricket Association secretary told PTI, “Is this the kind of wicket you prepare for first-class matches? What is the point of having a four-day match if you want to make an under-prepared wicket and get it over in one and half days. “We’re extremely disappointed at the way they have prepared the wicket. We’ve already filed our complaint with the match referee and then sending a report to the BCCI’s grounds committee chairman Daljit Singh.”

Skipper Natraj said, “Yes, our manager has filed an official complaint with the match referee (Shakti Singh). This was an absolutely dangerous pitch. 
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