Ranji Trophy: Assam struggling against Jharkhand in season opener at ACA Stadium

Our Sports Reporter

GUWAHATI: Assam is fighting to avoid defeat against Jharkhand in their season opener of the Ranji Trophy at the ACA Stadium here on Sunday. After being forced to follow on, Assam ended Day III with a score of 130-3 in their second innings, still trailing by 51 runs.

Jharkhand, who batted first, was bowled out for 361 on Saturday. Key contributions came from Aryaman Sen (64), Utkarsh Singh (55), and Kumar Suraj (55), all of whom hit half-centuries. Mukhtar Hussain shone with the ball for Assam, claiming 5 wickets for 55 runs, marking his sixth five-wicket haul in an innings.

Assam, in their first innings, were bowled out for just 180 runs. Sibsankar Roy was the top scorer with 42 runs, while Parvej Musaraf and Rishav Das added 35 and 31 runs respectively. Jharkhand’s Utkarsh Singh and Manishi took three wickets each. In the second innings, opener Parvej Musaraf provided a solid start for Assam, scoring his first half-century of the season with 57 runs off 136 balls, including seven boundaries. However, his opening partner Rahul Hazarika managed only 17 runs, and Rishav Das, who came in at number three, scored just 10 runs before both were dismissed. At stumps, captain Denish Das was on 29, with Sibsankar Roy supporting him at 15.  Assam will need to build a substantial partnership on Monday morning to avoid defeat in the match.

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