It was nothing short of a dream debut for Odisha spinner Sumit Sharma as he began his first-class career with a five-wicket haul against Jammu & Kashmir in their Elite Group A Ranji Trophy clash in Cuttack on Friday.
His figures of five for 79 on the first day of the four-day fixture made sure that Jammu & Kashmir could not take the game away from the hosts as they finished the first innings on 270 despite top-order batter Abdul Samad (127) scoring an impressive century at Barabati Stadium .
At stumps on Day 1, Odisha were 15 for the loss of opener Shantanu Mishra who was bowled by Auqib Nabi for naught in the second ball of the innings. Anurag Sarangi and Sandeep Pattnaik — batting on 8 and 6 respectively — will look to drive the innings and get them a crucial first-innings lead on Day 2 after Odisha saw their opening fixture against Tripura get washed away by rain.
Earlier, J&K won the toss and chose to bat but found both their openers back in the pavilion with just 14 runs on the board. While Rajesh Mohanty (2-47) dismissed Abhinav Puri (6), Suryakant Paradhan (2-50) struck from the other end to claim the scalp of Shubham Khajuria (7).
Thereafter, skipper Govinda Poddar brought debutant left-arm spinner Sharma into the attack and things began getting worse for the visiting J&K batting lineup. Even skipper Paras Dogra had no answer for Sharma’s bowling and was dismissed cheaply by the 29-year-old playing his first first-class match.
Only Samad stood up to the Odisha attack and held on to one end as wickets kept tumbling at the other end. His 117-ball innings, with a strike rate of 108.5, that included six boundaries and a whopping nine sixers lifted the tempo of the J&K innings and took them to a competitive total.
The highlight of their game was the 131-run partnership for the fifth wicket that Samad had with Sahil Lotra (39) and gave the visitors the optimism to fight on. While Pradhan broke the partnership by bowling out Lotra, it was the star of the day Sharma who got rid of the belligerent Samad with a catch to Sarangi.
Brief scores: Jammu & Kashmir 270 in 70.3 overs (A Samad 127, S Lotra 39; Mohanty 2-47, Pradhan 2-50, Sharma 5-79). Odisha 15/1 in 9 overs. Match to continue
His figures of five for 79 on the first day of the four-day fixture made sure that Jammu & Kashmir could not take the game away from the hosts as they finished the first innings on 270 despite top-order batter Abdul Samad (127) scoring an impressive century at Barabati Stadium .
At stumps on Day 1, Odisha were 15 for the loss of opener Shantanu Mishra who was bowled by Auqib Nabi for naught in the second ball of the innings. Anurag Sarangi and Sandeep Pattnaik — batting on 8 and 6 respectively — will look to drive the innings and get them a crucial first-innings lead on Day 2 after Odisha saw their opening fixture against Tripura get washed away by rain.
Earlier, J&K won the toss and chose to bat but found both their openers back in the pavilion with just 14 runs on the board. While Rajesh Mohanty (2-47) dismissed Abhinav Puri (6), Suryakant Paradhan (2-50) struck from the other end to claim the scalp of Shubham Khajuria (7).
Thereafter, skipper Govinda Poddar brought debutant left-arm spinner Sharma into the attack and things began getting worse for the visiting J&K batting lineup. Even skipper Paras Dogra had no answer for Sharma’s bowling and was dismissed cheaply by the 29-year-old playing his first first-class match.
Only Samad stood up to the Odisha attack and held on to one end as wickets kept tumbling at the other end. His 117-ball innings, with a strike rate of 108.5, that included six boundaries and a whopping nine sixers lifted the tempo of the J&K innings and took them to a competitive total.
The highlight of their game was the 131-run partnership for the fifth wicket that Samad had with Sahil Lotra (39) and gave the visitors the optimism to fight on. While Pradhan broke the partnership by bowling out Lotra, it was the star of the day Sharma who got rid of the belligerent Samad with a catch to Sarangi.
Brief scores: Jammu & Kashmir 270 in 70.3 overs (A Samad 127, S Lotra 39; Mohanty 2-47, Pradhan 2-50, Sharma 5-79). Odisha 15/1 in 9 overs. Match to continue
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