Mysore, Nov 7:
A dogged half-century by opener Rameez Nemat and his 92-run partnership for the second wicket with Bhavik Thaker helped Jharkhand post 214 for five against Karnataka on the first day of their Group A Ranji match at Gangotri Glades here today.
Sent into bat by captain Vinay Kumar, the visitors lost opener Akash Verma for 13 off pacer Sreenath Arvind before the end of the 20th over with just 31 runs on the board.
However, Nemat and Thaker dropped anchor while intermittently playing some delightful shots, helping Jharkhand to 66 for one at lunch.
Both added another 57 runs for the second wicket in the post-lunch session before Thaker was castled by left-arm spinner K P Apanna for a hard-earned 36 runs. He cracked four boundaries and a six in 107 balls.
Soon, as it happens quite often in cricket, Nemat, who was batting well along with Thaker, succumbed to Apanna after he gave a catch to wicketkeeper C M Gautam. He made a solid 68 off 166 balls with eight boundaries.
Nemat played some excellent drives on either side of the wicket in the afternoon session.
Resuming at 141 for three at tea, Jharkhand could add another 73 runs before losing two more wickets when the umpires called off the day’s play.
Right-hand batsman Ishank Jaggi (14) was dismissed caught by Gautam off Arvind and Shiv Gautam (16), in the last over of the day, gave a catch to the wicketkeeper off the same bowler.
Arvind, who made a comeback after an injury, was the pick of the bowlers for Karnataka as he finished the day with the figures of three for 45, and Apanna had two for 39.
When the stumps were drawn, Saurabh Tiwary, who is making a comeback after an injury, was batting on 43 off 94 balls with five boundaries and a six. (PTI)
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