Cheteshwar Pujara's brilliant century (148) rescued Saurashtra, as the the Ranji Trophy Super League Group A match against Delhi ended in a tame draw in Delhi on Sunday.
Delhi now share the top slot in Group A with Mumbai on eight points from two matches.
Delhi declared their second innings at 295 for two on Sunday, a huge lead of 327 runs, before Saurashtra started on a disastrous note, losing their first wicket when Kanaiya Vaghela was clean bowled by Pradeep Sangwan in the opening over.
The visitors never really settled down and kept losing wickets at frequent intervals. They seemed headed for certain defeat at one stage, with the score reading 106 for eight.
It was yet another disappointing performance by the Saurashtra batsmen, with as many as six of them failing to reach double figures.
Pujara though was the savior. His superb 148 was studded with 27 hits to the fence. He stood like a rock as wickets kept falling like ninepins at the other end.
He was given good company by Sandeep Jobanputra (35, 4x4, 6x1) as the visitors tried to stage a late fightback. Their 119-run partnership rescued Saurashtra from almost certain defeat.
Sangwan was outstanding among the Delhi bowlers. He took four wickets in the second innings, taking his match tally to nine.
Delhi face defending champions Mumbai in their next match from November 23 to 26.
Scorecard
Delhi (1st innings): 244
Saurashtra (1st innings): 213
Delhi (2nd innings):
Akash Chopra not out 124
Shikhar Dhawan st Jogiyani b Dhurv 114
Mayank Tehlan lbw b Jobanputra 9
Vikas Kohli not out 40.
Extras: (lb 6, w 1, nb 1) 8.
Total: (for two wickets decl, in 69 overs) 295
Fall of wickets: 1-199, 2-219.
Bowling: Sandeep Jobanputra 15-1-77-1, Sandip Maniar 12-0-64-0, Kanaiya Vaghela 12-2-42-0, Ravinder Jadeja 15-2-51-0 Kamlesh Makvana 13-3-40-0, Rakesh Dhurv 2-0-15-1.
Saurashtra (2nd innings) (target: 327 runs):
Kanaiya Vaghela b Sangwan 0
S Jogiyani b Sangwan 35
S Kotak lbw b Sangwan 6
Cheteshwar Pujara not out 148
J Shah c Bisht b Sangwan 0
P Mehta lbw Sharma 1
Ravinder Jadeja c Kohli b Sharma 13
Kamlesh Makvana b Sharma 0
Rakesh Dhurv c Kohli b Bhatia 2
Sandeep Jobanputra b Manhas 35
Sandip Maniar not out 5.
Extras: (b 1, lb 1, w 3, nb 4) 9.
Total: (for nine wickets, in 85 overs) 254
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-33, 3-56, 4-60, 5-63, 6-101, 7-101, 8-106, 9-225.
Bowling: Pradeep Sangwan 23-4-70-4, Ishant Sharma 24-80-79-3, Amit Bhandari 11-2-30-0, C Nanda 9-1-26-0, Rajat Bhatia 11-2-25-1, Mithun Manhas 7-0-22-1.
