Jaffer, Bahatule shine for Elite B in drawn tie against Elite C

Elite B had to be satisfied with five points from their drawn encounter against Elite C, which ended at Vijayawada's Indira Gandhi stadium on Sunday.

After MSK Prasad opted to bat on Thursday morning, fifties from opener Wasim Jaffer (76) and Sairaj Bahutule (61), and good hands from Amit Pagnis (49), Vinayak Mane (47) and Tejinder Pal Singh (43) helped Elite B post 390 in their first innings. For Elite C, left-arm spinner Nilesh Kulkarni claimed five wickets.

The Elite C reply never really took off after early jolts from medium-pacer Harvinder Singh, who claimed both openers with just 39 on the board. Leggie Sairaj Bahutule then took over, claiming six wickets, as Elite C, with the exception of Yere Goud (46) and Nikhil Doru (60*), struggled. The fall of the final Elite C wicket with the score reading 247 gained Elite B a 143-run lead.

With less than one and a half days of play remaining, Elite B, led from the front by opener Wasim Jaffer (102), set off in pursuit of quick runs and an outright win. A declaration by Prasad with the Elite B score reading 201/7 in the second innings left Elite C with an improbable 345 runs for win.

They decided to settle for a draw instead, notching up 155/2 in 51 overs when play was called off. Opener Satyajit Parab (65*) and middle-order bat Jacob Martin (55*) were the batting stars for Elite C.