Gujarat and Saurashtra play out a draw

With the batsmen ruling the roost, the West Zone league Under-22 match featuring Gujarat and Saurashtra at the Municipal Corporation Cricket Ground at Rajkot meandered to a draw on Friday as Gujarat took home five points due to a slender eleven run first innings lead.

Opting to bat, Gujarat posted a huge 345 runs on the board with the innings going well into the second day. The innings witnessed some good knocks from NK Patel (83) and skipper K Damani (71). They were ably supported by opener Sunil Bhatt (54), H Joshipura (42) and late in the order by MN Kadri (32). The wickets were shared all around with US Karavadra retaining the best figures of 4 for 103.

Saurashtra made a strong reply of 334, falling short by a whisker. The mainstay of the innings was MJ Mehta who made a patient unbeaten 104. The other batsman to take the fight to the opposition camp was Saurashtra opener and skipper PS Joshi with a fine 95. Having pocketed the match on the basis of the first innings lead, Gujarat played out the remaining overs on the final day to score 49 for the loss of two wickets.