Jaffer, Fazal take Vidarbha home; Karnataka squeeze out draw

Vidarbha 154 (Satish 67, Jaffer 40, Purkayastha 4-50) and 213 for 7 (Jaffer 71, Fazal 63, Verma 3-55, Purkayastha 3-90) beat Assam 206 (Syed Mohammed 69, Verma 57, Wakhare 4-47, Umesh Yadav 4-49) and 160 (Purkayastha 35, Verma 38, Sarvate 6-64, Wakhare 4-37) by three wickets
Scorecard

Vidarbha registered their first outright win of the season by beating Assam by three wickets in Nagpur. Half-centuries from Wasim Jaffer (71) and Faiz Fazal (63), and their 124-run opening stand reduced their chase of 213 into one-way traffic for large parts. But the loss of Ganesh Satish, Shalabh Srivastava and S Badrinath with the target within touching distance - they slipped from 200 for 2 to 200 for 5 - lent the game some excitement as the spin duo of Swarupam Purkayastha and Amit Verma took three wickets apiece.The win meant Vidarbha, who were placed eighth in the nine-team pool, jumped to the third spot, while Assam moved one spot down to No. 2.

Jayant Yadav's six-wicket haul threatened to stop Karnataka's 33-match unbeaten streak that has spanned three seasons, but Manish Pandey, who came in at No. 9, batted for 26 deliveries with a broken finger as Karnataka salvaged one point, with Haryana having to settle for first-innings honours.

Batting out 90 overs was the easier option for Karnataka as they began the day needing 364 with all 10 wickets intact. KL Rahul fell early, but Robin Uthappa (66) and R Samarth (32) appeared to have steadied things for the hosts, before Jayant Yadav turned the match on its head with his offspin as Karnataka slipped from 146 for 2 to 198 for 7.

It boiled down to Pandey, who didn't bat in the first innings because of his injury, to save the game for Karnataka, and he did it with help from debutant David Mathias, who batted 32 deliveries for his nine not out as the defending champions squeezed out a point to extend their search for their first outright win of the season into the fifth round.

Delhi 249 (Milind 77, Nitish Rana 43, Pragyan Ojha 4-77, Dinda 3-49) and 161 for 4 (Rishabh Pant 57, Nitish Rana 49, Gani 3-47) drew with Bengal 357 (Chatterjee 116, Saha 72, Sangwan 4-48) and 217 for 5 dec (Manoj Tiwary 97, Gani 62, Narwal 3-27)
Scorecard

Manoj Tiwary's 97 held the Bengal innings together as their ill-tempered game against Delhi at the Feroz Shah Kotla ended in a draw. Bengal, who walked away with three points courtesy a first-innings lead, declared on 217 for 5 to set Delhi an improbable target of 325 in a little over two sessions. Delhi lost to early wickets, but recovered courtesy Rishabh Pant (57) and Nitish Rana (49) to be placed at 161 for 4 when the game was called off at the start of the mandatory overs.

With seven points from three matches, Bengal, who have a game in hand, were breathing down Karnataka's neck in the points table, while Delhi continued their run at the top of the standings courtesy two outright wins in four matches.

Maharashtra 409 (Tripathi 119, Khurana 77, Jadhav 45, Ankush Bikram Singh 4-87, Chahar 3-94) and 17 for 0 drew with Rajasthan 318 (Menaria 84, Bhatia 59, Fallah 3-77, Mundhe 3-94) and 334 for 5 dec (Menaria 150*, Bhatia 64, Mundhe 2-51)
Scorecard

Ashok Menaria, Rajat Bhatia and Dishant Yagnik thwarted Maharashtra's hopes of securing an outright win after taking a 91-run lead in Jaipur. Rajasthan, who began the day precariously placed on 115 for 3, were driven by a 127-run fourth-wicket stand between Menaria and Bhatia. Menaria, who made 84 in the first innings, completed his first century of the season, and finished unbeaten on 150 with Rajasthan declaring at 334 for 5.

Bhatia, making his Rajasthan debut after securing a late NOC, finished with scores of 59 and 64 in two innings. With the game all but secured, Menaria found support from Yagnik, who made 58, as the two shared an unbroken 149-run stand to puncture Maharashtra's hopes. The visitors' chase was merely a formality. They placed at 17 without loss when the captains shook hands.

The lead that was largely achieved on the back of Rahul Tripathi's century, and took Maharashtra to the fourth spot. Rajasthan were placed eighth.