Joseph, Darekar shine in tame draw

Pacer Domnic Joseph and left-arm spinner Akshay Darekar took the last five Goa wickets to help Maharashtra earn three points for the 196-run first-innings lead.

However, Goa, who began on their overnight score of 297 for 5, salvaged some pride as Keenan Vaz and Saurabh Bandekar helped the side cross the 400-run mark and avoid any possibility of an innings defeat.

Having been frustrated by Harshad Gadekar, who had played all through the third day after walking in to bat on the second evening as a nightwatchman, the Maharashtra bowlers were pumped at the start of the play. The team showed intensity in the field, something that was terribly missing during the latter half of the third day, but they had to wait for an hour to get the breakthrough.

Gadekar eventually played a false stroke after spending almost eight hours at the crease and edged Joseph to wicketkeeper Rohit Motwani. Joseph continued the good work by getting rid of Shadab Jakati in his next over, with a superb catch from Sangram Atitkar. The fielder timed his forward lunge to perfection and latched on to a sharp chance.

For the next two hours though, Vaz and Bandekar made the Maharashtra bowlers toil. While Vaz showed a lot of patience, curtailing his instincts and going only after loose balls, Bandekar was at his aggressive best. The allrounder went after both the left-arm spinners - Darekar and debutant Pushkaraj Chavan - driving them through covers at will.

At lunch, with both Vaz and Bandekar having crossed their fifties, Maharashtra would have dreaded their second successive game without dismissing their opponents in the first innings. However, Darekar struck 35 minutes after lunch, trapping Vaz in front of the wickets. He didn't waste any time in getting rid of Amit Yadav and last man Gauresh Gawas to end the innings with four wickets.

With their bowlers having bowled more than 300 overs in less than a week, Maharashtra opted not to go for an outright victory, with a maximum of 41 overs remaining to be bowled in the day. However, the Goa bowlers bowled with full steam, using only their specialists, and made the remaining overs an interesting affair before the draw was called.

Maharashtra now travel to Kadapa to face Andhra while Goa return home to face Tripura.