Orissa defeat Jharkhand, Dhoni disappoints

Kolkata, Apr 3 (UNI) Mahendra Singh Dhoni sunk to the abyss of dismal performance scoring just one run, as Jharkhand lost the opening tie of East Zone Twenty20 cricket to Orissa by 11 runs.

M S Dhoni came in at the fall of Saurav Tewari and scratched about for five minutes trying to hit every ball for a six. He held his bat akimbo and went for flat batted swipes. The result five balls later a thick outside edge produced a dolly for Niranjan Behera standing in the first slip.

Debashis Mohanty is too much of a pro to get beaten by such gimmicks. He produced a delivery that rose off the good length which Dhoni had no answer. The hype was gone. The momentum was lost.

Jharkhand looked defeated at three for 13 in 4.5 overs.

Orissa kept chipping away with wickets at regular intervals, as Jharkhand innings got over for 110 runs, 11 runs short of the target of 121.

Earlier, Orissa batted first and put up a modest 121 runs in their alloted time. P Jaychandra led the Orissa assault with a fine 46 off 37 balls with four boundaries and two sixes. Praveen Kumar was the pick of Jharkhand bowlers taking three wickets for 36 runs from four overs.

None of the other Orissa batters shone with only B Mohapatra (11), B Pati (14) and P Mullick (10) going into double figures.

For Jharkhand inept technique brought their ruin. Subrata Ghosh was the highest scorer with 24 runs. A late surge by Praveen Kumar (18 not out) and Sunny Gupta 22 saw Jharkhand almost reach the target, but they eventually 10 runs short.

Brief Scores: Orissa P Jayachandra 46 B Pati 14 P Kumar 3/36 Jharkhand Subrata Ghosh 24 S Gupta 22 P Kumar not out 18 P Das 2/14 UNI