Bhubaneswar: Odisha dominated proceedings on the weather-curtailed opening day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group C clash against Jharkhand.
Opting to bowl first in seam-friendly conditions under cloudy skies at KIIT Stadium here on Monday, Odisha reduced Jharkhand to 15/3. Pace spearhead Rajesh Mohanty cleaned up Aryaman Sen (1) and had Utkarsh Singh (6) caught behind by Rajesh Dhuper. In between, Sharandeep Singh (6) was run out.
Run-scoring was difficult and survival was the priority, with skipper Virat Singh and Aditya Singh preventing further damage as Jharkhand reached 37/3 in 25 overs before bad light forced stumps.
Cyclone Arnab and the rains it brought last week forced a draw last week at the same venue, with not even two innings being completed in Odisha’s match against Services.
This one could go a similar way as Cyclone Murasu approaches the Andhra coast and threatens to dump a lot of rain in Odisha.
BRIEF SCORES
Odisha first innings: 37/3 (Virat Singh batting 14, Aditya Singh batting 10; Rajesh Mohanty 2/15) vs Jharkhand
Play to continue on Day 2.
