Jamshedpur: Odisha bowlers gave Jharkhand a run for their money on the second day of their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A contest at Keenan Stadium.
Chasing Odisha’s first-innings total of 282, Jharkhand reached 244/6 at stumps on Friday.
Comfortably placed at 123/1 and 180/3, Jharkhand were pegged back by debutant left-arm spinner Sayed Tufayl Ahmad (3/67) and medium-pacer Rajesh Mohanty (2/37).
After Mohanty had gone through the defence of Sharandeep Singh to give Odisha an early breakthrough at 25, the other opener Shikhar Mohan launched a counter-attack. Mohan (80 off 91 balls) and Kumar Kushagra (47) were going great guns, having added 98 runs in quick time, before 18-year-old Tufayl had Mohan caught by substitute fielder Debabrata Pradhan.
Tufayl went on to trap Sahil Raj (11) leg-before wicket and castled Anukul Roy (17).
Mohanty sent back Kushagra and Govinda Poddar had skipper Vikas Singh (32) leg-before wicket.
In the morning, Odisha resumed on 242/6 and lost Biplab Samantray to the third ball of the day. Mohanty chipped in with a handy 25 to carry Odisha to 282.
BRIEF SCORES
Odisha first innings: 282 (Biplab Samantray 38, Rajesh Mohanty 25; Aditya Singh 3/35, Saurabh Shekhar 3/43).
Jharkhand first innings: 244/6 (Shikhar Mohan 80, Kumar Kushagra 47, Robin Minz 37*; Sayed Tufayl Ahmad 3/73, Rajesh Mohanty 2/37).
Match to continue on Day 3.
