All-round Saurashtra secure massive win

Saurashtra 475 for 7 dec (Jogiyani 133, Kotak 65, Jani 64) beat Rajasthan 136 (Makvana 3-30, Jadeja 3-39) and 308 (Bishnoi 106, Saxena 70, Jadeja 4-108) by an innings an 31 runs
Scorecard

Shitanshu Kotak finished his farewell first-class game on a high note, as Saurashtra comprehensively thumped Rajasthan by an innings and 31 runs in Rajkot - the innings win meant they secured the bonus point, taking seven from the match.

It was a memorable game for Kotak, who has appeared in a total of 130 first-class games in a domestic career spanning two decades, as he bowled what turned out to be the final over of the match and, perhaps fittingly, castled Pankaj Singh's stumps to bundle Rajasthan out for 308 and seal the win.

During the course of his first-innings score of 65, Kotak also reached a personal milestone by amassing 8000 first-class career runs. His steady knock set Saurashtra on their way to a mammoth first innings total of 475, which Rajasthan were ultimately unable to topple.

Rajasthan, who began the day at 147 for 4, offered a brief resistance in the morning, as Rajesh Bishnoi struck a fighting 106, but after his 91-run fifth-wicket stand with Hrishikesh Kanitkar came to an end in the 64th over, the team lost all the remaining batsmen for just 77 runs.

Dharmendrasinh Jadeja claimed four wickets in the second innnings to end with match-figures of 7 for 147.

Tamil Nadu 456 for 7 dec (Aparajith 203, Badrinath 81, Prasanna 74*) and 117 for 5 drew with Services 346 (Yashpal 98, Balaji 3-56)
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Yashpal Singh fell two runs short of what would have been his 15th first-class ton, as Services fell well short of securing a first-innings lead against Tami Nadu.

Yashpal's 98 included 17 fours, and even though he was caught behind by Dinesh Karthik off Ashwin Crist in the 108th over, Suraj Yadav resisted with a handy 56, hitting eight fours and two sixes. Services got to a healthy 346, but fell 110 runs short of the lead. L Balaji was the most effective of Tamil Nadu's bowlers, finishing with 3 for 56.

With a win out of the question, Tamil Nadu batted out 42.1 overs, making their way to 117 for 5, thanks to contributions of 33 and 29 from Abhinav Mukund and S Badrinath respectively.

Madhya Pradesh 510 for 6 dec (Choudhary 239*, Mishra 97) drew with Railways 335 (Shukla 113, Rawat 103, Pandey 8-84) and 235 for 6 (Ghosh 72*, Pandey 3-36)
Scorecard

Medium-pacer Ishwar Pandey took 11 wickets in the match, consolidating on the position of strength his batsmen put the team in by comfortably keeping Railways short of the first-innings lead.

Pandey dismissed Hardik Rathod early on the final day to bowl Railways out for 335 in their first innings, a 170-run first-innings deficit, and they were predictably asked to follow-on by the Madhya Pradesh captain Devendra Bundela.

They didn't fare much better in their second attempt with the bat, as they lost early wickets and were left precariously placed at 64 for 4. However, Arindam Ghosh put on stands of 58 and 69 for the fifth and sixth wickets with Ashish Yadav and Mahesh Rawat to keep his side from sliding to defeat. He remained unbeaten at 72 to salvage what had earlier looked to be an unlikely draw.

The match between Bengal and Baroda was abandoned without a ball being bowled over the four days, due to the weather in Kolkata.