Orissa-Bihar game meanders to a tame draw

The East Zone Ranji Trophy encounter between Bihar and Orissa which witnessed tall scores at the Keenan Stadium in Jamshedpur drifted to a draw with Orissa getting five points due to their 186-run first innings lead. Bihar had to be content with three.

Resuming at 470 for 7, Orissa's overnight batsmen P Jai Chandra and Debasish Mohanty added eight more runs before RR Parida declared. Jai Chandra who remained unbeaten on 95 the previous evening reached his century and remained unbeaten on 101 off 188 balls. He hit ten fours and a six.

Bihar in their second innings batted out the rest of the day while making 213 runs for seven. The main contributors were skipper Rajiv Kumar (33), Sunil Kumar (46) and A Hashmi (49). Sunil Kumar and Hashmi were involved in a 67-run fourth wicket stand which went a long way in salvaging a draw for the hosts. The spoils were shared all around with Mohanty (2 for 42) and Barick (2 for 63) being the pick.