Assam were staring at certain defeat at the hands of Bihar on the second day of the East Zone Cooch Behar Trophy Under-19 tie at the NFRSA Stadium in Maligaon, Assam on Saturday. Assam still need 42 runs to make Bihar bat again. The hosts were struggling at 136 for 8 in the second innings, following on after being bundled out for a paltry 62 in the first. Bihar in their first innings were all out for 240 on the first day.

Assam in their first innings on Saturday morning made a disastrous start losing opener C Ruat (0) off the fifth ball of the day when he gave a catch to Prakash off Diwakar. Assam thereafter continued to struggle against a disciplined Bihar attack. The innings folded up in 41.3 overs with only J Rajkhowa (17) and C Barua (16 not out) managing to reaching double figures. Diwakar with 3 for 17 and Ambuj Kumar (3 for 13) were the most successful bowlers for Bihar.

Following on, Assam openers D Kalita (19) and C Ruat (75) made amends with a fruitful 62 run partnership in 17.1 overs. Kalita was the first to be dismissed when he was stumped by Prakash off Ambuj Kumar. The new batsman S Bhattacharjee (0) departed in the very next over caught by Manish Kumar off KI Rao. The Assam skipper HS Das (0) was dismissed soon after, caught by Pratap off Ambuj Kumar.

But Assam kept losing wickets even as Ruat kept scoring at the other end. Ruat was the sixth batsman to be dismissed when he gave a chance to Ratan Kumar off KI Rao. Assam lost two further wickets before stumps were drawn. KI Rao (4 for 29) and Ambuj Kumar (3 for 46) were the most successful bowlers for Bihar.

© CricInfo