Bhubaneswar: Opener Anurag Sarangi (114, 190b, 17×4, 2×6) scored a fighting century Thursday in a challenging opening day of their season-first Ranji Trophy Group C encounter against Haryana at the KIIT Stadium here. At stumps, Odisha were 230 for six with Shantanu Mishra (30 batting) and Debabrata Pradhan (7 batting) at the crease.
Opting to bat first after winning the toss, openers Anurag and Sandeep Pattnaik (20) gave Odisha a wonderful start as the duo added 63 runs in 17.4 overs. But once the partnership was broken with the departure of Sandeep, Odisha kept on losing wickets at regular intervals.
Anurag however held his nerve and completed his century before getting out off a Tinu Kundu (1/45) delivery as the hosts came down to 173/5. Experienced skipper Biplab Samantaray (9), former captain Govind Poddar (14) and young Subhranshu Senapati (11) spent time at the crease but failed to effect much the scoreline.
Later, Shantanu and Sujit Lenka (13) took Odisha past 200-run mark with a sixth wicket partnership of 45 runs before the dismissal of the latter. Then Shantanu and Debabrata ensured the hosts of no further damage with an unbroken 12-run stand.
Brief scores: Odisha 230/6 (Anurag Sarangi 114; Mohit Sharma 2/38) vs Haryana. Match to continue.
