Assam get bonus point, Kerala hang on for draw

Assam 450 (Jadhav 243, Chanda 5-74) and 62 for 0 (P Das 52*) beat Tripura 145 (Nechim 4-61) and 266 (Ratra 124, Murasingh 62, Chanda 58, Syed Mohammad 4-83) by 10 wickets
Scorecard

Ajay Ratra, Manisankar Murasingh and Timir Chanda frustrated Assam with lower-order partnerships, but Assam came out with full seven points from the match in Guwahati. Tripura began the day needing 137 runs to make Assam bat again, with just four wickets in hand. However, Ratra delayed Assam's victory charge for long enough to take the match into the final session.

Centurion Ratra added 107 with Murasingh for the seventh wicket, 80 with Chanda for the eighth and 74 with Rana Dutta for the ninth. J Syed Mohammad, though, on first-class debut took four wickets to make sure Tripura didn't get away with the draw.

Chasing 62, Assam raced to the target through Pallavkumar Das' scored 52 off 60 as the openers ensured Assam got the bonus point too.

At 92 for 5, still needing 215 to make Himachal Pradesh bat again, Kerala were all set to lose comprehensively, but their stubborn lower order helped them salvage one point in Nadaun. Their No. 6 Rohan Prem scored his fifth first-class hundred, and frustrated the hosts in the company of Robert Fernandez and Raiphi Gomez.

Prem and Fernandez saw off 42 overs. Fernandez scored 31 in a little over two hours. Part-timer Prashant Chopra dismissed Fernandez, but Himachal ran into more resistance. Prem and Gomez stayed together for 28 overs, to deny Himachal a victory. Gomez scored 15 off 86 deliveries. Himachal got three first-innings points. "Tried our best to enforce an outright win," Himachal batsman Aakash Chopra tweeted. "But not to be. Kerala's batsmen batted really well. Not a bad start to the season though."

In a rain-affected game in Anantapur, Services broke through hosts Andhra's resistance to take three first-innings points. In response to Services' 297, Andhra began the day at 87 for 6 but fought hard to give Services a scare. Syed Sahabuddin was the base around which Andhra's fight revolved, but he was left stranded on 78.

The last four partnerships were worth 54, 65, 17 and 31. Suraj Yadav and Shadab Nazar, though, did enough for Services with three wickets each. Services walked away with three points.