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Bhubaneswar, July 28: Orissa bowlers were made to toil hard as KSCA XI made merry on a batsman friendly wicket to reach 335 for five at stumps in their first innings on the second day of the All India K Thimmappiah cricket tournament in Bangalore, Tuesday.
Resuming the day at their overnight score of 66 for no loss, the hosts coasted along with Ravikumar Samarth (187, 366b, 18×4, 1×6) playing a gem of an innings to pile on the miseries of the visitors. He was well supported by Mayank Agarwal (44, 97b, 5×4).
Orissa got back into the match for a brief period of time when Mayank was run out while Abhisekh Reddy (7) and CM Gautam (3) were sent back to the hut in quick succession by Paresh Patel (1/45) and Jayant Behera (2/62) respectively.
However, middle order batsman Shishir Bhavane (69, 132b, 12×4) held the innings together along with Samarth to guide his team to safety. The former was looking set for a bigger score but Jayant put paid to his hopes by getting him caught by Alok Chandra Sahoo.
As many as nine bowlers were used by Orissa captain Biplab Samantray (1/12) but none were able to break the defence of Samarth until he was trapped in front of the wicket by Biplab himself, 13 runs short of a double century, after he had done much damage to the visitors.