Bihar sniff victory against Arunachal in Ranji opener

Ayush Loharuka scored his maiden double ton in first-class cricket as Bihar tightened the noose around Arunachal Pradesh on second day of their Ranji Trophy Plate group opener in Patna on Thursday.Resuming on 155, the 22-year-old went on to score 226 off 247 balls with 37 fours and a maximum as Bihar amassed a massive 542 for nine wickets before declaring their first innings.Arunachal reached 94 for three wickets in their second essay, still trailing Bihar by 343 runs. First innings bowling hero Sakib Hussain and Himanshu Singh took one wicket apiece while opener Jainath Mansingh was run out as Arunachal were reduced to 38 for three.

Siddharth Balodi was retired hurt on team score of 36/1.Techi Neri (29 batting) and Abhinav Singh (25 batting) were at the crease when stumps were drawn. The northeast side is facing an uphill task to make the hosts bat again at Moin-ul-Haq Stadium on day three.Earlier, Loharuka continued his Wednesday’s form adding 136 runs for the third wicket with captain Sakibul Gani (59 runs from 86 balls) and 104 runs for the fourth wicket with wicketkeeper Bipin Saurabh (52 runs from 78 balls). He was sent back to the pavilion by Techi Doria when on the first ball of the 81st over of Bihar innings, Kamsha Yangfo stumped him.Brief scores:Arunachal Pradesh 105 & 94/3 in 25 overs. Bihar (o/n 283/2) 542 for 9 in 116.3 overs (A Loharuka 226, S Gani 59, S Kumar 75, B Saurabh 52; T Neri 3/70, T Doria 2/48). Match to continue.