A 67-run partnership for the seventh wicket between S Sharath (31) and S Badrinath (57 n.o) enabled Tamil Nadu to gain a first innings lead of 109 runs and earn two points against Gujarat as their rain marred Elite Group A Ranji trophy match ended in a draw at the ICL grounds in Tirunelveli on Saturday.

Resuming their first innings at the overnight score of 28 for one, in reply to Gujarat's 159, Tamil Nadu made 268 for 8 in 94 overs before the match was called off after the eighth mandatory over.

Tamil Nadu recovered to force the lead after slumping to 130 for six with Sharath (31 off 59 balls in 126 minutes with tree fours, and Badrinath, batting at no 7 remaining unbeaten on 57 (174 balls, one four) rescued the team. They added 67 runs in 30.4 overs.

The Tamil Nadu innings seemed to fold up with the top order failing to come good barring left-hander Vidhyuth Sivaramakrishnan who made 42 off 84 balls in 147 minutes with five fours and Hemanth Kumar making 30 off 75 balls in 145 minutes with one four.

Skipper and left-hander Hemang K Badani(1), opener Aniruth Srikkanth (13) and Dinesh Karthick (9) fell cheaply. Another left-hander Ramkumar (21, 19 balls, two fours) chipped in before Sharath and Badrinath came together.

For Gujarat, who failed to gain any points, medium pacer S Tiwari (3-63) and off spinner S Yadav (2-64) were the most successful bowlers.

Brief Scores'' Gujarat 159. Tamil Nadu 268-8(V Sivaramakrishnan 42, C Hemanth Kumar 30, R Ramkumar 21, S Badrinath 57 n.o, S Sharath 34; S Tiwari 3-63).

Tamil Nadu will take on Railways at New Delhi, while Gujarat will play against Maharashtra at Ahmedabad from December 1.

Scorecard

Gujarat (First Innings)159

Tamil Nadu (First innings)
S Anirudha c Modi b L A Patel 13
S Vidhyut c Damani b Yadav 42
C Hemanth Kumar c Yadav b Trivedi 30
D Karthik c Modi b Trivedi 9
H Badani c Modi b Yadav 1
R Ramkumar c Modi b Trivedi 21
S Badrinath (not out) 57
S Sharath run out 31
R Naresh c sub (A Makda) b Damani 34
A Kapoor not out 6
Extras (b 4, lb 2, w 1, nb 17) 24
Total (8 wickets, 94 overs, 390 mins) 268

Fall of wickets: 1-21 , 2-80,3-105, 4-106, 5-110, 6-130, 7-197, 8-255.

Bowling: Trivedi 21 2 63 3, LA Patel 12 3 25 1, Majumdar 8 2 27 0, Watekhar 25 5 53 0, Yadav 18 2 64 2, Damani 10 0 30