Central Zone Ranji matches end in draws

Both Central Zone Ranji ties ended in draws on Tuesday, with Railways and Madhya Pradesh picking up five points each by virtue of their first-innings totals.

Railways, playing for an outright win against Rajasthan at Delhi, were thwarted by a gritty middle-order performance from their rivals. Although they were, at one stage, 85/3, Rajasthan rallied to cling on until the end of play. Pudiyangum Krishnakumar, captain of the batting side, was the top scorer, making a slow unbeaten 50 off 180 balls and spending just over four hours at the crease.

Krishnakumar was supported by Rahul Kanwat and Nikhil Doru, who each made 38. Wicket-keeper Rohit Jhalani also contributed an unbeaten 28, made off 122 balls. Rajasthan ended at 219/6, gaining three points where there could have been none.

In Indore, Madhya Pradesh, overnight on 185/6, declared their innings at 280/7. Nikhil Patwardhan and Manish Majithia made fifties, enabling their team to set Uttar Pradesh a seemingly disheartening target of 358 runs.

Uttar Pradesh, however, started in fine style; Jyoti P Yadav and Nasir Ali posted a 50-run first wicket partnership off 80 balls in 57 minutes. When Ali was dismissed for 41, 87 runs had been put on in 96 minutes and Uttar Pradesh gave every appearance of actually gunning for the target.

The dismissal of Mohammad Kaif, however, slowed the innings down and, although Rizwan Shamshad (69) and Yadav posted a 100-run partnership off 137 balls in just 84 minutes, the target was ultimately too steep. Shamshad and skipper Gyanendra Pandey got out in quick succession and, although Yadav completed his century (176 balls, 13 fours), Uttar Pradesh fell well short of the target, managing only 244.