Patna: Bihar faced a challenging start on the first day of the Cooch Behar Trophy match against Jharkhand at the Moin-ul-Haq Stadium. Electing to bat first after losing the toss, Bihar were bundled out for 154 runs in their first innings. In reply, Jharkhand reached 56 for 2 at stumps, trailing by 98 runs with a strong partnership building.
Bihar’s batting struggled to find momentum, with Satyam Kumar top-scoring with 37 runs. Prithvi Raj contributed 36, and Deepesh Gupta added 33. A crucial fifth-wicket stand of 48 runs between Md Alam (14) and Prithvi Raj briefly steadied the innings. However, the remaining batsmen faltered, with Anubhav, Gautam, and Aditya Raj dismissed for ducks.
Jharkhand’s bowlers delivered a stellar performance. Tanish claimed 5 wickets, while Gaurav and Ryan Sapkota took 4 and 1 wickets, respectively, to dismantle Bihar’s batting line-up.
Jharkhand’s innings began shakily as they lost their first wicket for no runs, with opener trapped LBW by Satyam Kumar on the very first ball. Their captain, Vishesh Dutta, fell soon after, caught off Aditya Raj, leaving Jharkhand at 5 for 2. However, Krish Sharma (unbeaten on 33) and Vivek Kumar (unbeaten on 22) stabilised the innings with an unbeaten 51-run stand, positioning Jharkhand in a commanding spot at the close of play.
