Patna: In the four-day Ranji Trophy match against Karnataka, which commenced on Saturday at the Moin-ul-Haq Stadium in Patna, Bihar were bowled out for 143 runs in their first innings, while Karnataka reached 16 without loss by stumps. The first day’s play was curtailed due to poor light.
For Bihar, Sarman Nigrodh impressed with a solid half-century, scoring 60 runs and drawing applause from the crowd with two stylish sixes, off deliveries from Shreyas Gopal and Mohsin Khan.
In this Pool C match, Karnataka won the toss and opted to field. Bihar’s innings began with Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Sarman Nigrodh opening. Despite Vaibhav’s promising start with a boundary, he was dismissed LBW by Kaushik V without adding further runs.
Babul Kumar, who followed, scored 4 runs with a single boundary before he was caught by Mohsin Khan off Vijay Kumar Vyshak. Sarman then teamed up with Sakibul Gani to stabilise the innings. However, before they could fully settle, Vidyadar Patil had Sakibul caught on the boundary by substitute Hardik Raj.
Bipin Saurabh joined Sarman and added an important 44-run partnership over 84 balls. Bipin was approaching his half-century when he was caught by Manish Pandey at slip off Mohsin’s bowling on the last ball of the 30th over. Raghavendra Pratap provided further support with a 45-run partnership with Sarman, who reached his half-century during their stand. Raghavendra was later dismissed for 16 by Shreyas Gopal.
The rest of Bihar’s batting line-up faltered quickly; Jitin Yadav and Veer Pratap Singh both contributed a single run each before falling, and soon after, Sarman was dismissed, triggering a swift collapse as Bihar’s innings concluded at 143 runs.
Sarman’s commendable 60 runs came off 143 balls, featuring six fours and two sixes. Other contributions included Sakibul Gani with 13, Bipin Saurabh with 31, and Raghavendra Pratap with 16. Himanshu Singh remained unbeaten on 5, while Anuj Raj and Sakib Hussain departed without scoring.
Karnataka’s bowling was led by Shreyas Gopal, who took 4 wickets for 28 runs, while Mohsin Khan claimed 3 for 50. Kaushik V, Vijay Kumar Vyshak, and Vidyadhar Patil each took one wicket.
In response, Karnataka reached 16 without loss in three overs before bad light halted play about two hours early. SJ Nikin Jose remained unbeaten on 11, with SS Sathari on 4.
Earlier in the morning, Bihar Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar inaugurated the match, with PK Shahi, Advocate General of Bihar, attending as the special guest.
