Elite 'B' scored a nine-wicket victory over Plate 'A' with more than a day to spare, on the penultimate day of the four-day Duleep Trophy cricket match in Chennai on Saturday.
Though Elite 'B' completed their engagements with 18 points from four matches, they will have to wait till the outcome of the match between Elite 'C' and Plate 'B' now in progress in Kochi to know whether they finish at number two or three.
If the Kochi match ends in a draw, both Elite 'C' and Plate 'B' will finish as the top two teams while Elite 'B' will have to be content with the third position in the five-team league.
Elite 'C' and Plate 'B' have 16 points from three matches each and the team that takes the first innings lead will be the winner of the prestigious Duleep Trophy.
As for today's encounter, Plate 'A' were doomed to defeat but they were able to delay the inevitable as Elite 'B' were made to bat again to achieve an outright win.
Plate 'A' made 244 all out in 71 overs.
Overnight 74 for 2, Plate 'A' lost Roland Barrington to the very first delivery of Amit Uniyal this morning but Rajiv Kumar (31) and Yashpal Singh kept the rival bowlers at bay. Yashpal was at his best and made a fine 93 with the help of 11 fours and a six.
Spinner Sairaj Bahutule claimed four wickets from 15 overs, conceding 37 runs.
Needing 51 runs to win, Elite 'B' reached the target in the eighth over. Amit Pagnis, who was unbeaten with 23 off 18 balls, hit five fours in a row in Tinu Yohannan's third over. Wasim Jaffer remained unbeaten on 30.
Plate 'A' (1st innings):
R Jaiswal c M S K Prasad b Uniyal 20
R Barrington c Bahatule b Uniyal 51
H Kanitkar c Jaffer b Bahatule 26
Rajeev Kumar c Jaffer b Bahatule 5
Yasphal Singh c M S K Prasad b Uniyal 0
Thilak Naidu c A T Rayadu b Harvinder Singh 10
Sunil Joshi lbw Uniyal 0
Dodda Ganesh b Uniyal 0
K N Ananthapadmanabhan c M S K Prasad b Bahatule 13
Tinu Yohannan c M S K Prasad B Harvinder Singh 6
Faisal Shaikh not out 0
Extras (B-1, LB-1, W-1, NB-1) 4
Total (all out in 54.4 overs) 135
Fall of wkts: 1/32, 2/86, 3/105, 4/105, 5/105, 6/105, 7/105, 8/128, 9/130
Bowling: Harvinder Singh 14.2-4-31-2; Amit Uniyal 11-5-21-5; Ramesh Powar 8-1-29-0; S.Bahatule 19-2-50-3 Rohan Gavaskar 2-0-2-0.
Elite 'B' (1st innings): Vinayak Mane c sub H Phadke b Kanitkar 76
Amit Phagnis c R Barrington b Faisal Shaik 55
Wasim Jaffer c Yashpal Singh b Sunil Joshi 15
A T Rayudu c Jaiswal b Anantapadmanabhan 52
Rohan Gavaskar c Tinu Yohanan b Kanitkar 0
Arjun Yadav c Thilak Naidu b T Yohanan 12
M S K Prasad lbw Sunil Joshi 10
Ramesh Pawar c & b Anatapadmanabhan 37
Sairaj Bahutule c Anantapadmanabhan b D Ganesh 29
Amit Uniyal c R Jaiswal b Kanitkar 20
Harvinder Singh not out 5
Extras (B9, LB7, NB2) 18
Total 329
Fall of wkts: 1-57, 2-163,, 3-195, 4-195, 5-213, 6-220, 7-240,8-282, 9-321, 10-329.
Bowling: Dodda Ganesh 11.5-3-37-1, Tinu Yohanan 18-6-30-1, Sunil Joshi 24-4-85-2, K N Anantapadmanabhan 22-3-69-2, Faizal Shaik 16-0-68-1, H Kanitkar 10-1-24-3.
Plate 'A' (2nd innings):
R Jaiswal c Jaffer b Harvinder 0
R Barrington c MSK Prasad b Uniyal 35
H Kanitkar b Powar 30
Rajiv Kumar b Bahutule 31
Yashpal Singh b Bahutule 93
Tilak Naidu c Jaffer b Bahutule 4
Sunil Joshi c sub (T P Singh) b Bahutule 4
D Ganesh lbw b Harvinder 6
K N Ananthapadmanabhan c Mane b Powar 9
T Yohanan c Jaffer b Powar 14
Fasal Shaikh not out 4
Extras (b-6, lb-1, nb-7) 14
Total (all out in 71 overs) 244
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-50, 3-74, 4-152, 5-156, 6-177, 7-193, 8-220, 9-238.
Bowling: Harvinder Singh 14-7-30-2; A Uniyal 15-1-58-1, R Gavaskar 9-0-35-0; R Powar 13-1-64-3; A T Rayadu 1-0-6-0; S Bahutule 19-0-44-4.
Elite 'B' (2nd innings):
Vinayak Mane c Barrington Roland b T Yohanan 0
Amit Phagnis not out 23
Wasim Jaffer not out 30
Extras 0
Total (For one wicket) 53
Fall of wickets: 1-0
Bowling: T Yohanan 3-0-23-1, Fazal Shaik 3-1-9-0, K N Anantapadmanabhan 1-0-12-0, Rajiv Kumar 0.5-0-9-0.
