Jharkhand 228-3 in reply to Haryana's 258 in Ranji Trophy quarters

Jharkhand reached a handsome 228-3 in their first innings after bowling out Haryana for 258 on the second day of their Ranji Trophy cricket quarter-final at the Moti Bagh Stadium here on Saturday.

Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem, who claimed a five-wicket haul on the opening day which saw Haryana post 251-7, removed overnight batsmen Sanjay Pahal (39) and Harshal Patel (22) early as the northern side could only add seven runs to their overnight total.

Then, Jharkhand were lifted by an unbeaten 146-run stand between Virat Singh (81 not out) and Ishank Jaggi (77 not out) as they reached 228-3, trailing by 30 runs in their first innings.

Jharkhand struggled at the beginning, losing Anand Singh (9), Sumit Kumar (19) and Saurabh Tiwary (23) cheaply to be tottering at 82-3. But Virat and Jaggi dished out risk-free batting to take Jharkhand near Haryana's total.

With the help of 10 fours and a six from 140 deliveries, Virat was batting on 81, while Jaggi's unbeaten knock featured 11 fours from 149 deliveries he faced till the umpires declared the end of the day.

For Haryana, medium pacer Harshal Patel, leg-spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and leg-spinner Amit Mishra took a wicket each.

Brief scores: Haryana (First Innings): 258 all out (Rajat Paliwal 42, Sanjay Pahal 39 ; Shahbaz Nadeem 7-79) vs Jharkhand 228-3 (Virat Singh 81 not out, Ishank Jaggi 77 not out; Harshal Patel 1/24)

--IANS

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