GUWAHATI, Jan 27 - Hosts Odisha were in a comfortable position on the opening day of the four-day Elite Group C Ranji Trophy match against Assam scoring 215 for the loss of three wickets. Being asked to bat, Odisha batsmen made good use of the batting friendly track and scored fluently denying all the Assam bowlers.
The opening pair of Shantanu Mishra (66) and Anurag Sarangi (58) added 96 runs while after a brief halt the unbroken fourth wicket partnership between Govinda Poddar (54) and Biplab Samatray (32) contributed 67 runs.
The Assam bowlers today failed to put any impact on the Odisha batsmen from the initial stage. Ranjit Mali bagged two while Pritam Das got one.
SCORECARD
Odisha 1st Innings: Shantanu Mishra c Sharma b PL Das 66, AR Sarangi c KN Saikia b Mali 58, SP Senapati c KN Saikia b Mali 0, GB Poddar not out 54, BB Samantray not out 32. Extras: (b 4, lb 1) 5. Total: (For 3 wickets in 87 overs) 215. Fall of wickets:�1-96, 2-96, 3-148. Bowling: Arup Das 23-10-43-0, Ranjit Mali 21-6-51-2, Krishna Das 23-9-53-0, Pritam Das 14-5-40-1, Riyan Parag 6-1-18-0.
