Cuttack: Odisha faced a familiar batting crisis in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A fixture against Jammu & Kashmir here at the Barabati Stadium before recovering through skipper Govinda Poddar.
Chasing the visiting team’s 270, Odisha reached 198/5 at stumps on the second day, thanks to an unbroken sixth-wicket partnership of 92 runs between Poddar and wicketkeeper-batter Aashirwad Swain.
Resuming on their overnight score of 15/1, Odisha started promisingly and progressed to 52 before Sandeep Pattanaik fell for 27. Skipper Poddar arrived at the crease and stitched a 45-run stand with opener Anurag Sarangi, who battled hard for his 35.
Then, Odisha lost three wickets — including those of Biplab Samantaray (1) and Kartik Biswal (4) — for the addition of just 9 runs to slump to 106/5.
Luckily, Poddar found an able ally in young Aashirwad, who realised the gravity of the situation and put his head down to defy the J & K bowlers.
Poddar played some fine shots, hitting 8 fours and 2 sixes en route to an unbeaten 87 off 148 balls.
Aashirwad was happy to play second fiddle, and ended the day on 25. The fact that he faced 93 balls and struck just 2 boundaries showed the teenager’s maturity and resolve to support his captain.
The duo will look to bat long on Sunday to help Odisha take the first-innings lead.
Brief Scores
Jammu & Kashmir 1st innings: 270
Odisha 1st innings: 198/5 (Govinda Poddar 87 batting, Anurag Sarangi 35, Aashirwad Swain 25 batting; Abid Mushtaque 2/52).
Match to continue on Day 3.
