Odisha bowlers produced a spirited show as they bowled out Rajasthan for a meagre 135 on the opening day of their Elite Group C encounter here on Friday.
For Odisha, the Mohanty duo -- Basant and Rajesh -- both right-arm pacers -- did the job as they shared nine wickets among them.
Basant returned with exceptional figures of 6-20 and was ably supported by Rajesh (3-63) as Rajasthan batters had a horrid time at the Vikash cricket ground here.
Rajasthan openers Amitkumar Gautam (0) and Chetan Bist (0) fell in quick succession. For them, only skipper Mahipal Lomror (85) played a valiant knock to ensure that the side crossed the 100-run mark.
Lomror, who was the last man to be dismissed, struck 14 fours and a six, as he waged a lone battle.
But Lomror was devoid of partners at the other hand as the Rajasthan middle order collapsed. Rahul Chahar (18) played a handy knock to support his skipper, but clearly the day belonged to Odisha bowlers.
In reply, Odisha lost four wickets and were 78/4 at close of play, still adrift by 57 runs. Debasish Samantray (30 not out) and Abhishek Raut (22 not out) are holding the fort.
Meanwhile, in Agartala Pratyush Singh-led Tripura's fightback as the hosts reached to 247/7 at stumps on day 1. They were 128/6 at one stage.
At Lucknow, Ishank Jaggi (76 not out) and all-rounder Shahbaz Nadeem (70 not out) took Jharkhand to a respectable 278/6 after the side were teetering at 157/6 against Uttar Pradesh.
Brief Scores:
At Bhubaneswar: Rajasthan 135 all out (Mahipal Lomror 85, Rahul Chahar 18, Basant Mohanty 6-20, Rajesh Mohanty 3-63) versus Odisha 78/4 (Debasish Samantray 30 not out, T M Haq 2-8). Odisha trail by 57 runs.
At Agartala: Tripura 247/7 (Pratyush Singh 98 not out, Nirupam Chowdhary 44, Amit Verma 3-56) versus Goa.
At New Delhi (Air Force Complex Ground Palam): Assam 190/7 (Amit Sinha 51 not out, Gokul Sharma 49, Sachidanand Pandey 3-65) versus Services.
At Lucknow: Jharkhand 278/6 (Ishank Jaggi 76 not out, Shahbaz Nadeem 70 not out, Dhruv Pratap Singh 4-76) versus Uttar Pradesh.
At Rohtak: Jammu and Kashmir 161 (Obaid Haroon 26, Ian Chauhan 23, A K Chahal 3-31) versus Haryana 129/5 (R P Sharma 41, Himanshu Rana 29, Umar Nazir 4-43). Haryana trail by 32 runs.
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