Bhubaneswar: Abhishek Raut (116 batting, 212b, 11×4, 3×6) scored a significant unbeaten century to help Odisha take a 196-run first innings lead against Jammu & Kashmir in their Elite Group C match of the Ranji Trophy cricket tournament in Jammu, Sunday.
In reply to Odisha’s 323, the hosts reached 27 for no loss at stumps on the second day, still trailing by 169 runs with both their openers Qamran Iqbal (17 batting) and Shubham Khajuria (10 batting) playing watchful cricket.
However, the day belongs to Abhishek who struck his maiden first class century. At one moment the visitors were reeling at 115/5, and that is when Abhishek joined the overnight batsman Debashis Samantray (85, 190b, 7×4, 2×6) at the middle.
The pair demonstrated some sensible cricket playing cautiously and kept the J&K bowlers at bay. It was a good opportunity for J&K to exploit the conditions set by seasoned Irfan Pathan (4/52) and Umar Nazir (3/49) picking up a couple of wickets each during the first hour of play in the morning.
However, they couldn’t carry on their momentum and consequently Abhishek and Debashis relied on their defensive approach and steadied the Odisha ship. The duo put on together a 103-run sixth-wicket partnership, taking the visitors’ total past 200-run mark.
It was J&K skipper Parveez Rasool (1/75) who broke the stand when he cleaned up Debashis to deny him of a maiden first class century. Debashis fell short of the three-figure mark by 15 runs.
Abhishek however stood still while losing out on his partners at the other end as the visitors were reduced to 256/8 after the dismissals of P Roshan Kumar Rao (6) and Suryakant Pradhan (17).
However, Abhishek took responsibility and he found able ally in experienced Basant Mohanty (13) as the pair forged together 65 runs for the ninth wicket.
It was not the runs Basant scored but the number of balls – 45 – he faced proved crucial for Odisha and it helped Abhishek complete his century as well as taking his side past 300 runs. After breaking the stand, J&K wrapped up the Odisha innings shortly to restrict the lead below 200 runs.
Earlier resuming the day’s play at overnight 91/1, Odisha had a dramatic collapse where the visitors lost four wickets in 16 runs. Pathan dismissed Anurag Sarangi (57) soon after Odisha reached 100. Pathan was also accounted for the dismissal of in-form Subhranshu Senapati (4) before Nazir got rid of experienced Govind Poddar (2) and skipper Biplab Samantray (1) to reduce the visitors to 115/5.
Brief scores: Jammu & Kashmir 127 and 27/0; Odisha 323 (Abhishek Raut 116 n o, Debashis Samantray 85; Irfan Pathan 4/52, Umar Nazir 3/49). Match to continue.