Ranji Trophy: Haryana dominate opening day vs Jharkhand

KOLKATA: Haryana opener Ankit Kumar hit a ton while Himanshu Rana and Rahul Tewatia scored half-centuries as Haryana amassed a huge total on Day 1 of their Ranji Trophy Group A game against Jharkhand at Keenan Stadium in Jamshedpur on Friday.
At stumps on the opening day, Haryana were on 338 for six from 89 overs after the hosts pulled things back later in the day.Tewatia (51 batting) and Sumit Kumar (26 batting) were at the crease and put up 67 runs for the unbroken seventh wicket.
Anukul Roy and Utkarsh Singh scalped two wickets each for Jharkhand while veteran left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem and debutant pacer Saurabh Shekhar took one wicket apiece.
Opting to bat first, Haryana had the start they looked for before Shekhar bowled opener Mayank Shandilya (20 off 40 balls) in the last ball of the 12th over with the scoreboard reading 46.
Despite the early breakthrough, Jharkhand were sent on a leather hunt for the next 36 overs as Kumar and Rana put 145 runs for the second wicket. Rana scored at a brisk pace for his 82 off 116 balls with 12 fours before returning a catch to Nadeem.
Nishant Sindhu then joined Kumar in the middle and together they put up 49 runs for the third wicket before the former lost his stumps to left-arm spinner Roy. Three balls later, the only centurion of the day holed out to Virat Singh in off-spinner Utkarsh’s over.
Next batters, captain Ashok Menaria (16) and Rohit Sharma (1), didn’t last long as Haryana lost four wickets for just 31 runs. But Tewatia and Sumit held fort thereafter to guide Haryana to 338/6 at close.
Brief Scores: Haryana 338 for 6 in 89 overs (Ankit Kumar 109, Himanshu Rana 82, Rahul Tewatia 51 batting; Anukul Roy 2/59, Utkarsh Singh 2/60) vs Jharkhand