Bichitra Baruah (Above picture ) and Dhiraj Goswami

Guwahati, Oct. 27: Hosts Assam suffered yet another top order collapse to be bundled out out for 221 on the first day of the C.K. Nayudu Trophy (under-22) East Zone tournament three-day match against Jharkhand at the Goalpara district sports association stadium today.

After the debacle in both innings against Orissa, this is the third time Assam’s top order caved in meekly during the ongoing campaign.

The visitors were five for no loss at the end of the day’s play with Saikat Roy on five and Abhishek Moitra yet to open his account.

Assam elected to bat and lost the wickets of Hirakjyoti Das, Rana Sarma, skipper Chandan Rawat and Gokul Sharma with the scoreboard reading only 38, before southpaw opener Abhijit Singha Roy (23) consolidated the innings with a 26-run partnership with wicketkeeper-batsman Kunal Saikia.

It was the middle and lower orders which saved the day for the hosts. After the dismissal of Mrigen Talukdar (7), Saikia (38) shared a 34-run partnership with Riyan Ninan before retiring hurt. Ninan topscored for Assam with 46.

Ninan and all-rounder Dhiraj Goswami (41) also shared a 33-run partnership followed by tailender Bichitra Baruah’s 64-run stand with Goswami, with an unbeaten 30.

Left arm spinner Junaid Ali was the most successful of the Jharkhand bowlers, scalping three for 48 off 23.2 overs.

Medium pacers Arvind Misra and Anitesh Kumar also shared two wickets each, giving away 46 and 27 runs respectively. Abhishek Moitra claimed a wicket while Goswami ran himself out.