*Abid scores brilliant half century
Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 20: Abid Mushtaq scored a brilliant half-century at a crucial juncture and Umar Nazir contributed valuable 25 runs to help J&K gain a vital 50-run first innings lead over their rivals before the fast bowling quartet of Rohit Sharma, Umar Nazir, Auqib Nabi and Umran Malik breathed fire to restrict Odisha to 126/7 in 43 overs in their second essay of the ongoing Elite Group-C Ranji Trophy match at DRIEMS Ground Cuttack today.
Earlier, resuming from an overnight score of 45/4, J&K managed to score 180 runs in their first innings to gain a crucial lead. Abid showed stellar grit and tenacity to notch up a power-packed half-century, scoring 50 runs off 51 balls studded with 7 fours and one six, while Shubham Singh Pundir contributed 34 runs and Umar Nazir chipped in with 25 runs to the total.
For Odisha, Rajesh Mohanty, veteran of many battles, was the wrecker-in-chief, who took 5 wickets by conceding 64 runs in his 12.4 overs, while Sunil Kumar bagged 3 wickets. Suryakant Pradhan and Prayash Kumar Singh claimed one wicket each.
Odisha were struggling at 126/7 in 43 overs in their second innings at stumps today, thus gaining a lead of 76 runs with 3 wickets in hand. Sandeep Pattanaik was unbeaten on 47 runs off 108 balls, studded with 6 boundaries, while Suryakant Pradhan was at the crease on 27 runs off 25 balls including one four and one six. Anurag Sarangi (16) was the only other batter to cross double figure mark. For J&K, speedsters Rohit Sharma, Umar Nazir and Auqib Nabi bagged 2 wickets each, while tearaway fast bowler Umran Malik claimed one wicket.
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