Mahesh Rawat became the first batsman for his team to score a hundred this season as Railways successfully overhauled Rajasthan's massive first innings total in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group ‘A' match at the Karnail Singh Stadium here on Sunday.
With six wickets in hand, Railways needed 248 runs to get past Rajasthan's 521 on the final day. Rawat and Yere Goud, resuming at 26 and 35 respectively, played responsible knocks to take the host within the reach of its target.
Later, M. Suresh's mature innings helped Railways overcome a few hiccups before declaring its first essay at 525 for eight.
“I don't think we have ever chased more than 500 runs successfully,” said Railways coach Abhay Sharma.
Three points
The home team, which had suffered two heavy losses, opened its account with three points on the basis of its first innings lead. The defending champion had to satisfy with one point after it failed to protect its 500-plus aggregate for the second time in a row.
Railways chose to drag the match a little longer in order to improve its runs-and-wickets quotient. The visiting team lost four wickets for 21 runs in its second innings while going through the formalities before an inevitable draw.
Rawat was the star of the day with his brilliant 145 (196b, 313m, 21x4). The 26-year-old, in the company of a dogged Yere Goud (70, 257b, 351m, 7x4), flourished with some effortless strokes. The two put on a crucial fifth wicket partnership of 153 runs.
Rawat was relieved after getting his maiden hundred for Railways and the fourth of his career. The wicketkeeper-batsman, who added 90 runs with Suresh (61 not out, 97b, 128m, 4x4), lost his wicket to Vivek Yadav while trying a big hit.
Meanwhile, Yadav returned his career best figures of six for 134.
The scores:
Rajasthan – 1st innings: 521 for eight decl.
Railways – 1st innings: S. Shukla lbw b Yadav 87, V. Cheluvaraj lbw b Mathur 2, S. Khanolkar c Jhalani b Yadav 31, S. Bangar lbw b Yadav 79, Yere Goud c Jhalani b Mathur 70, M. Rawat c Chahar b Yadav 145, M. Suresh (not out) 61, J.P. Yadav c Parida b Yadav 6, K. Sharma c Gajendra b Yadav 3, Anureet (not out) 2, Extras (b-14, lb-13, nb-7, penalty-5): 39; Total (for eight wkts. Decl. in 161 overs) 525.
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-89, 3-157, 4-246, 5-399, 6-489, 7-499, 8-515.
Rajasthan bowling: Pankaj Singh 38-10-117-0, S. Mathur 35-5-105-2, Gajendra Singh 40-9-115-0, Vivek Yadav 41-5-134-6, V. Deshpande 7-1-22-0.
Rajasthan – 2nd innings: V. Deshpande lbw b Konwar 0, Gajendra Singh c Rawat b Anureet 7, V. Yadav c Rawat b Anureet 10, V. Saxena c Cheluvaraj b Konwar 2, A. Chopra (not out) 1, R.R. Parida (not out) 0, Extras (nb-1): 1; Total (for four wkts. in 14 overs) 21.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-14, 3-18, 4-20.
Railways bowling: A. Konwar 3-1-5-2, Anureet Singh 6-2-10-2, M. Suresh 3-1-2-0, J.P. Yadav 2-1-4-0.
