Ranchi: A fine unbeaten century by Sourabh Tiwari gave Jharkhand the upper hand over Odisha as the visitors needing 179 runs for victory were 81 for 3 on the third day of the four-day Ranji Trophy match at the JSCA International Stadium Complex at Ranchi on Saturday.
Resuming their overnight score at 101 for 3 in their second innings, Jharkhand were in trouble as wickets fell at regular intervals.
However, with the score at 210 for 9, Tiwari launched a blistering attack and took the score to 288 with an invaluable 9th wicket 78-run partnership with the tail-ender Ashish Kumar giving the hosts a lead of 178 runs over Odisha. Tiwari remained not out at 132.
For Odisha, Rajesh Mohanty claimed four wickets while Basant Mohanty, Suryakant Pradhan and Dhiraj Singh claimed two wickets each.
Needing 179 runs for an outright victory, Odisha began their second innings disastrously as three wickets fell cheaply. However, Captain Biplab Samantray (10) and Subhransu Senapati (20) managed to hold on and took the score to 81 at stumps.
Brief score: Jharkhand (1st innings) 172 and 288 (2nd innings), Odisha (1st innings) 201 and 81 for 3 (2nd innings).
