Patna: Bihar first innings in the Cooch Behar Trophy Under-19 Men’s Cricket Tournament against Maharashtra was restricted to 240 runs. Maharashtra, in response, scored 222 for 4 wickets in their first innings, leaving them 18 runs behind Bihar. The match is set to conclude on Monday, which is the last day of play.
The game, being held at Chhatrapati Shivajinagar Cricket Ground in Aurangabad (Maharashtra), saw Bihar lose six wickets for just 36 runs on the third day. Resuming on 204 for 4, Bihar added just 1 run before the first wicket fell in the form of Satyam, who was dismissed for 55 runs, failing to add to his overnight score. From that point, no other batsman was able to provide support to Aditya Raj, who remained unbeaten on 61 runs, hitting 11 fours off 137 balls. The rest of the team was bowled out for 240 runs in 91.4 overs. Other contributions included Satyam (55), Prithvi Raja (52), Mohammad Alam (19), Taufik (24), Deepesh Gupta (5), Suman Kumar (10), and Abhinav Singh (4). Ayush Kumar Singh, Nitish Gulli, and Badal Kumar did not open their accounts.
For Maharashtra, Neeraj Joshi was the standout bowler, claiming 4 wickets for just 20 runs. Yogesh Chavan, Yash Borkar, and Anees Joshi each took 2 wickets, with Chavan conceding 65 runs, Borkar 40, and Anees Joshi 35.
Maharashtra’s response started poorly, with three wickets falling for 51 runs. However, Neeraj Joshi’s brilliant century of 113 runs, along with solid knocks from Nikhil Lunawat (50) and Om Bhavad (31), steadied the innings. Maharashtra ended the day at 222 for 4 in 75 overs, still trailing by 18 runs.
For Bihar, Nitish Gulli, Ayush Kumar Singh, and Suman Kumar each took 1 wicket, with Gulli conceding 25 runs, Ayush 19, and Suman 51.
