Delhi failed to record an outright win against Vidarbha on Tuesday and were knocked out at the group league stage of the Ranji Trophy in Nagpur.
Delhi finished on 20 points from eight games but were pipped at the post by Karnataka, who came from behind to beat Maharashtra by an outright margin to end on 21 points.
Delhi bowlers got 93 overs on the final day to get 10 Vidarbha wickets and thus ensure seven points which would take them to the knock-out stage but home team defended doggedly to reach 216 for seven when play was finally called off.
Middle order batsman Shalabh Srivastava remained unbeaten on 80 after batting for more than five hours and was instrumental in Vidarbha getting a point from the game to finish in fifth position behind Delhi.
Srivastava was involved in two important partnerships that sealed Delhi's fate. First was a fourth wicket stand of 59 runs with Hemang Badani (26). More than the runs scored, it was 28.1 overs that the duo consumed made things difficult for Delhi.
If that wasn't enough another 77 runs were added for the fifth wicket with Gaurav Upadhyaya (47) which also ate up around 22 overs. The visiting side had around 45 minutes after the fall of seventh wicket at the score of 199 but Ankit Jungade held on with Srivastava to deny Delhi a chance to reach the quarter-finals.
Left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra was the most successful bowler taking three for 26 from 22 overs while Pradeep Sangwan took two wickets. However Delhi missed the services of their best fast bowler Parvinder Awana, who is known to perform well on unresponsive tracks.
Brief Scores: Delhi 523/9 decl. Vidarbha 257 & 216/7 (Shalabh Srivastava 3/26, Pradeep Sangwan 2/57). Match drawn.
Points: Delhi 3; Vidarbha 1.
