Jharkhand were leading by 84 runs with five wickets in hand at stumps on Day 2 of the ongoing Ranji Trophy match in Trivandrum. In their last game of the league phase, the Saurabh Tiwary-led team were in control of the proceedings after their bowlers put them in advantageous position on the first day.
Anand Singh and Sumit Kumar resumed the Jharkhand innings on nine for one without loss in the morning and had added 13 runs to the total when the latter was bowled by Suryakant Pradhan. With Virat Singh, Anand then helped the team to 85 before being sent back by Govind Podder.
Saurabh then joined the No 3 bat to carry the innings forward and the duo took the team to Lunch at 93 for two. Early into the second session, Virat completed his half-century as they pair took the team to the three-figure mark. However, the blossoming partnership was ended by Basant Mohanty who claimed top-order batsman to leave the team on 118 for three.
With Ishank Jaggi, Saurabh then helped Jharkhand to a first innings lead and took the side to Tea at 173 for three. The hard-hitting bat, who was one short of his half-century at the end of the second session, reached the mark in the last session of the day. However, he soon retired hurt on 65 (off 129 balls).
As they looked to add to the lead, Jharkhand lost Jaggi to Mohanty. The pacer disrupted the middle-order batsman’s stumps and sent him back for 24. 32 runs later Deepak Behera trapped Ishan Kishan lbw towards the end of day’s play.
Kaushal Singh (22*) and Shahbaz Nadeem (0) were at the crease when play ended for the day with Jharkhand on 236 for the loss of five wickets.
Brief scores:
Day 1 - Odisha 1st inn 152/10 in 84 overs (S Pattanaik 43, S Nadeem 4/31, S Gupta 3/56); Jharkhand 1st inn 9/0 in 4 overs. Trail by 143 runs
Day 2 - Jharkhand 1st inn 236/5 in 94 overs (S Tiwary 65 (retd. hurt), V Singh 57, B Mohanty 2/43) Lead by 84 runs
