Ranji Trophy: Subhranshu Senapati (87*) & Rajesh Dhuper (51) Rescue Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Subhranshu Senapati and Rajesh Dhuper pulled Odisha out of a hole to help them end Day 1 of their Ranji Trophy clash against Madhya Pradesh on 208/6.

Asked to bat first after MP captain Aditya Shrivastava won the toss at Indore’s Emerald Heights International School ground, Odisha batsmen struggled against the home team’s medium-pacers.

Not only were runs hard to come by, wickets kept falling as well.

Kulwant Khejroliya and Aryan Pandey accounted for openers Anurag Sarangi (9 off 21 balls) and skipper Shantanu Mishra (2 off 17 balls), before Venkatesh Iyer dismissed Sandeep Pattanaik (11 off 46 balls) and Govinda Poddar (5).

At 38/4, Odisha stared at another dismal outing with the bat. However, Senapati and Dhuper had other ideas and buckled down to revive the innings with a fighting partnership of 118 runs.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Dhuper contributed 51 (141 balls, 6×4, 1×6), while Senapati is unbeaten on 87 (208 balls, 6×4, 1×6).

Following Dhuper’s dismissal, Senapati found another able partner in Prayash Singh. The sixth-wicket duo added 52 runs before Prayash fell to the last ball of the day.

Odisha handed Harshit Rathod his Ranji and first-class debut, with coach Dinesh Mongia presenting the left-arm spinner his cap.

Brief scores: Odisha 208/6 in 85.3 overs (Subhranshu Senapati 87 batting, Rajesh Dhuper 51; Venkatesh Iyer 2/25, Aryan Pandey 2/30) vs Madhya Pradesh.

Match to continue.