Baroda pocket three points against Vidarbha

Hosts Baroda pocketed three valuable points by virtue of the first innings lead after their Ranji Trophy Group B match against Vidarbha ended in a tame draw in Vadodara, on Monday.

Baroda declared their first innings at 514 for seven in reply to Vidarbha's 264 all out, thereby taking a vital first innings lead of 250 runs.

In their second innings, Vidarbha rode on half-centuries from opener Faiz Fazal and Shalabh Srivastava to finish on 218 for four in 83.3 overs before both the captains agreed to end the dull affair.

Fazal was unbeaten on a patient 98, having faced 255 balls with 11 hits to the fence.

Apart from Fazal, Srivastava utilised the opportunity to the fullest and got some much-needed batting practice ahead of their next Ranji Trophy fixture. He remained unbeaten on 65 that came off 156 balls with the help of eight fours.

For Vidarbha, Firdaush Bhaja scalped up two wickets for 34 runs, while Murtuja Vahora (1/24) and Aditya Waghmode (1/15) took a wicket each.

While Vidarbha pocketed three points, Vidarbha had to be satisfied with just one point from the tie.

After two rounds of matches, Vidarbha is placed second in Group B with seven points (behind Delhi, who also have 7 points, on net run rate) while Baroda occupies the fourth sport with six points.

Brief scores:

Vidarbha 264 and 218 for four in 83.3 overs (Faiz Fazal 98, Shalabh Srivastava 65 not out; Firdaush Bhaja (2/34) vs Baroda 514 for seven declared in 153.2 overs (Abhimanyu Chauhan 118, Rakesh Solanki 120; Sairaj Bahutule 3/82).