Unmukt Chand smashed a strokeful ton while out-of-favour Gautam Gambhir struck consecutive half-centuries as Delhi salvaged a draw against Mumbai in a Group A match of the Ranji Trophy in Mumbai.
Set an improbable target of 348 runs for an outright win, Delhi rode on Chand's unbeaten 106 and Gambhir's 51 to finish at 198 for no loss.
Chand struck 14 boundaries and one hit over the fence during his 154-ball knock while Gambhir hit only three fours during his 112 ball stay before retiring hurt, paving the way for Virender Sehwag to have valuable batting practice.
At stumps on the fourth and final day, Sehwag was other unbeaten batsman at the crease along with Chand.
It was a vintage Sehwag on display as he made a breezy 35 off 22 balls with the help of five fours and one six.
Earlier, resuming at the overnight score of 198 for two, Mumbai declared their second innings at 347 for the loss of six wickets in 70 overs.
Overnight batsmen Aditya Tare (122) and Siddesh Lad added seven and 25 runs to their Saturday's score.
Abhishek Nayar made a run-a-ball 60 which was studded with nine fours and one six.
For Delhi, left-arm pacer Pawan Suyal scalped three wickets for 52 runs.
Both Delhi and Mumbai garnered one point apiece from the fixture after both the teams were bowled out for identical 324 runs in their first essay.
Brief scores:
Mumbai: 324 and 347/6 decl in 70 overs (Aditya Tare not 122, Siddesh Lad 85, Abhishek Nayar 60; Pawan Suyal 3/52).
Delhi: 324 and 198 for no loss in 48 overs (Unmukt Chand 106 not out, Gautam Gambhir 51).
Nakul scores maiden century in drawn game
New Delhi: Services batsman Nakul Verma (101) struck his maiden century in Ranji Trophy and shared an unbeaten 169-run stand for the fourth wicket with Yashpal Singh (57) as their Group B match against Rajasthan expectedly ended in a draw on Sunday.
Rajasthan had already ensured themselves three points by taking a first innings lead on Saturday and on Sunday they lost seven wickets to be all out for 424.
Overall they had a 99-run lead and Services ended day four at 172 for three after being reduced to nine for three at one stage.
Nakul's 101 came off 188 balls with the help of 14 shots to the fence while Yashpal took 143 balls for his 57, which had five boundaries.
After Rajasthan paceman Pankaj Singh scalped both the openers -- Pratik Desai (4) and Soumik Chatterjee (4) – his pace colleague Aniket Choudhary had Anshil Gupta caught behind for a duck, causing ripples in the rival camp.
However, Nakul and Yashpal batted with dogged determination to ensure their side do not suffer an unexpected defeat.
In the morning session, Rajasthan lost remaining seven wickets inside 15 overs with an addition of 79 runs to their overnight total.
The off-spin duo of T Koteswar Rao (4/99) and Rajat Paliwal (3/63) shared seven wickets between them.
Brief Scores:
Services 325 and 172 for 3 in 60 overs (Nakul Verma 101 not out, Yashpal Singh 57 not out; Pankaj Singh 2/23).
Rajasthan 1st innings: 424 all out in 176.5 overs (Robin Bisht 134, Rajesh Bishnoi 112; T K Rao 4/99).
Mali leads Railways to innings win over Baroda
Vadodara: Medium pacer Ranjitkumar Mali finished with stunning match figures of 10 for 103 to bowl Railways to an innings and 48 runs victory over Baroda on the final day of their Ranji Trophy Group 'B' match.
In a poor display of batting, Baroda crumbled for 217 in their second innings, losing nine wickets after starting the day at 33 for one, with Mali (2/55), fellow pacemen Anureet Singh (3/54) and Krishnakant Upadhyay (4/63) sharing nine wickets among them on a lively Moti Bagh track.
Mali had returned with impressive figures of eight for 50 in the first innings to bowl out Baroda for 176 runs in their first innings.
In reply, Railways had ended their first innings at 441 for eight declared with middle-order batsman Arindam Ghosh scoring a fine unbeaten double century (208) to put the visitors in the driver's seat.
Starting their second essay trailing Railways by 233 runs, Baroda batsmen meekly surrendered in front of some hostile pace bowling to be bundled out for 217.
For Baroda, opener Saurabh Wakaskar top-scored in the second innings with 59, while Pinal Shah made an unbeaten 57.
Brief Scores:
Baroda: 176 & 217 in 63.3 overs (Saurabh Wakaskar 59, Krishnakant Upadhyay 4/63, Anureet Singh 3/54).
Railways: 441 runs for 8 decl in 172 overs (Arindam Ghosh 208 not out, Gagandeep Singh 3/94).
Mohanty's five-for ensures 3 points for Odisha
Nagpur: Medium pacer Basant Mohanty returned with a five-wicket haul to ensure the all-important first innings lead for Odisha in their Ranji Trophy Group A match against Vidarbha, which ended in a tame draw.
Mohanty starred with the ball for Odisha with figures of 5-59 to bowl out Vidarbha for 382 in their first innings in reply to the visitor's 453 for six declared.
Starting at the overnight score of 199 for three, Vidarbha could add only 183 runs in the fourth and final day before being bundled out in 169.1 overs.
Vidarbha witnessed a disastrous start to the day as overnight centurion Faiz Fazal (124) was cleaned up by Deepak Behera (1/47) in the very first delivery of the morning.
Veterans Hemang Badani (65) and Rashmi Parida (60) played good hands but Vidarbha kept losing wickets at regular intervals to hurt their cause.
Both Badani and Parida hit identical seven boundaries during their 207 and 130-ball knocks.
Vidarbha skipper Shalabh Srivastava made a patient 27 before being run out.
Mohanty cleaned up the Vidarbha tail, claiming the wickets of Parida, Shrikant Wagh (24), Shrikant Ruikar (35) and Amol Jungade (14).
Odisha take home three points from the match by virtue of 71 runs first innings lead, while Vidarbha had to be satisfied with one point.
Brief Scores:
Odisha 1st innings: 453 for six decl
Vidarbha 1st innings: 382 all out in 169.1 overs (Faiz Fazal 124, Hemang Badani 65, Rashmi Parida 60; Basant Mohanty 5/59).
Assam grab three points against Andhra
Anantapur: Andhra Pradesh produced a strong batting display in their second essay on the final day but Assam walked away with three points due to their first innings lead in the drawn Group C Ranji Trophy match.
In reply to Assam's first innings total of 432, Andra, who scored 297 in their first essay, reached 176 for one, courtesy to the opening partnership of 146 between Prasanth and Bharat at Rural Development Trust Stadium here.
Prasanth Kumar (73) and Srikar Bharat (90) came up with twin half-centuries after Assam added 80 runs to their overnight score of 352 in their first innings.
Prasanth and MUB Sriram (8) were at the crease when the stumps were drawn for last time.
Brief Score:
Assam: 432
Andhra: 297 and 176/1 in 50 overs (DB Prasanth 73, S Bharat 90; J Syed Mohammad 1/31).
Mohit helps Haryana beat Jharkhand
Rohtak: Haryana pacers led by Mohit Sharma (4/51) pulled off an emphatic 30-run victory over Jharkhand in their Ranji Trophy group B match.
Sharma, who scalped four in the first innings, decimated the Jharkhand batting in company of Joginder Sharma (2/27) and Harshal Patel (3/42) at the Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium.
Resuming the final day on 74/3, Jharkhand were bowled out for 172 in their second innings.
Overnight batsmen Bhavin Thakkar (64) and Ishank Jaggi (53) successfully negotiated the morning spell from Haryana bowlers as they added 30 runs to the total, completing their individual fifties in the process.
But just as when the duo looked threatening for Haryana, Joginder removed Jaggi on 106 to put an end to a fighting 70-run stand for the fourth wicket.
Thakkar's unfortunate dismissal on 135 started flurry of wickets for Jharkhand. He was run out.
The following Jharkhand batsmen failed to negotiate the Haryana pacers as the hosts wrapped up the match when Rahul Shukla was bowled by Mohit giving his team full six points.
Brief Score:
Haryana: 309 & 123
Jharkhand: 231 & 172 (Bhavin Thakkar 64, Ishank Jaggi 53; Mohit Sharma 4/51)
Maha-Hyd match ends in dull draw
Hyderabad: Maharashtra and Hyderabad shared a point each after their Group C Ranji Trophy match ended in a dull draw that saw 1144 runs being scored over four days at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal.
In reply to Maharashtra's mammoth 616 for nine declared, Hyderabad made 528 for seven, still trailing by 88 runs when stumps were drawn on the final day.
Since the team batting in second innings wasn't completed within the stipulated four days, both the sides got a point each according to the BCCI points system for Ranji Trophy.
For Hyderabad, Syed Quadri (113 not out) hit a patient century while Akshath Reddy (86), Ravi Teja (98) and Hanuma Vihari (80) also helped the hosts to close in on visitors' total.
Vihari, unbeaten on 39 overnight, started off well but fell short of his century by 20 runs when he was castled by Chirag Khurana. Hyderabad lost Amol Shinde for just two to left-arm spinner Akshay Darekar as the hosts slumped to 400 for six.
But Quadri, the other overnight batsman, and Habib Ahmed (44) combined well and took the score past 450-mark. Medium pacer Samad Fallah returned to disturb the timbers of Ahmed.
Qaudri found a perfect ally in next man-in, Mohammed Khader, and both shared an unconquered 68-run partnership for the eighth wicket. In the process, Quadri also completed his century laced with 13 fours and one six.
For Maharashtra, Darekar was the pick of the bowlers with three for 149 while Khurana chipped in with two wickets.
Brief scores:
Maharashtra 1st innings: 616 for nine declared
Hyderabad 1st innings: 528 for seven in 188 overs (Syed Quadri 113 not out, D Ravi Teja 98, Akshanth Reddy 86; Akshay Darekar 3/149)
Gujarat take three points in a drawn game vs Karnataka
Bangalore: Karnataka batsman Stuart Binny slammed a hurricane 114 in just 99 balls on the fourth and final day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match against Gujarat which ended in a draw.
Binny struck 11 fours and five sixes as Karnataka scored 245 for four at the end of the final day at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Wicketkeeper Chidhambaram Gautam remained not out on 51 from 113 balls.
Gujarat got three points from the match by virtue of the 105-run lead in the first innings while Karnataka had to be content with one point.
Earlier, Gujarat folded their first innings at 411 after resuming the day at 373 for six.
Bhargav Merai added another 21 runs to his overnight 121 before he was dismissed for 142 by Mayank Agarwal. Merai consumed 265 balls in his knock and hit 21 boundaries.
Karnataka's had scored 306 all out in their first innings.
Brief Scores:
Karnataka: 306 and 245 for four in 59 overs (Stuart Binny 114; Akshar Patel 2/55).
Gujarat 1st innings: 411 all out 139.2 overs (Bhargav Merai 142, Abhimanyu Mithun 4/94).
Saha's 69 help Bengal settle for a draw against MP
Kolkata: Steered by Wriddhiman Saha's stroke-filled half-century, Bengal on Sunday put up an improved batting show to salvage a draw and settle for one point against Madhya Pradesh who logged three in their Ranji Trophy group B league.
Resuming their second innings at 43 for no loss with a deficit of 125 runs, Bengal lost two quick wickets to be on 86/2 midway into the first session after offspinner Jalaj Saxena (4/117) dismissed both the openers -- Rohan Banerjee (43) and first innings centurion Arindam Das (39).
But Saha (69) once again proved his worth to be the mainstay of their batting as the wicketkeeper batsman stitched two important partnerships -- 78 runs with Anustup Majumdar (38) and 73 with Subhomoy Das (59).
The first partnership that came before the lunch helped Bengal avoid the deficit while in Subhomoy, Saha found a perfect ally as the duo shattered MP's hope for six points with an outright victory.
Saha's knock from 95 balls with nine fours and one six was more of elegance while Subhomoy showed fine temperament as the duo took the total past 200.
Eyeing a second consecutive Ranji victory against Bengal, MP had disappointment in store as their strike bowler Ishwar Pandey returned wicketless, failing to utilise the early morning condition which was ideal for swing bowling.
But it was a memorable outing for Saxena who had a career-best match haul of 10 wickets (10/170). The offspinner had best figures of 6/53 in the first innings.
Bengal now have five points from three matches to lie low at sixth place, while MP have seven at the fourth position in group B standings.
Madhya Pradesh boast of a fine record against Bengal, having defeated them comprehensively in Indore last season for six points, while in 2011-12 they walked away with three points chasing down 496 in the first innings at JU Saltlake campus.
Brief Scores:
Madhya Pradesh 1st Innings: 431
Bengal 1st Innings: 263
Bengal 2nd Innings (following on): 308/5 in 102 overs (Wriddhiman Saha 69; Jalaj Saxena 4/117).
Saurashtra earns 3 points against UP
Rajkot: An impressive 110 made by Parvinder Singh went in vain, as hosts Saurashtra earned three vital points against Uttar Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy group B match ended in a tame draw.
Resuming at their overnight 226 for 4, hosts bowlers showed discipline in taking wickets at regular interval as they bundled out the visitors for 353 to take a huge 279 runs first inning lead.
Saurashtra, satisfied by pocketing three points, decided to bat again making 51 without a loss.
Chirag Pathak was batting on 13 and Bhushan Chauhan was on 34 when both the captains agreed to end the match.
Earlier, Uttar Pradesh resuming at their overnight 226 for 4, were losing wickets at regular intervals against the disciplined bowling by the Saurashtra bowlers.
Abhishek Bhatt, the most successful bowler for Saurashtra struck twice in the morning, removing overnight batsman Arish Alam (46) and Piyush Chawla (0).
However, Parvinder Singh stood tall amongst the visitors batsman making fighting 110, but his efforts were not enough against Saurashtra's massive 632 for 7 declared.
For Saurashtra, Abhishek Bhatt was the most successful bowler taking four wickets conceding 49 runs while Jaydev Unadkat took three wickets giving away 44 runs.
Brief Scores
Saurashtra 1st inning 632 for 7 decl
Saurashtra 2nd inning 51-0
Uttar Pradesh 353 (Parvinder Singh 110, Mohd Kaif 49, Arish Alam 46, Abhishek Bhatt 4-49, Jaydev Unadkat 3-44).
Image: Gautam Gambhir
Photograph: Phil Walter/Getty Images
