Bhubaneswar: Jharkhand recovered from a perilous start to reach 258/5 at stumps on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match against Odisha.
A full day’s play was possible at KIIT Stadium here on Tuesday after bad weather allowed just 25 overs on the opening day.
Jharkhand, resuming on 37/3, lost their fourth wicket at 78 when skipper Virat Singh was dismissed by left-arm spinner Ninad Rathva for a laborious 39 off 143 balls.
Allrounder Anukul Roy then joined overnight batter Aditya Singh, and the two left-handers got about the business of consolidating the team’s position. Aditya was more circumspect and solid, batting through the day and remaining unbeaten on 94, which took 283 deliveries.
When all other batters struggled to score freely, Anukul managed to broke the shackles and hit seven fours, two sixes. Anukul’s 89 came off 140 balls, easily the best strike rate of 63 in the innings, before medium-pacer Badal Biswal had him caught by Ninad. Aditya and Anukul’s 155-run partnership for the fifth blunted the Odisha attack, though the overall innings run rate has been well below 3.
At close, Robin Minz (batting 11) was keeping Aditya company.
BRIEF SCORES
Jharkhand first innings: 258/5 (Aditya Singh 94 batting, Anukul Roy 89; Rajesh Mohanty 2/30) vs Odisha
Match to continue on Day 3.
