Himachal players Prashant Chopra (109) and Ankit Kalsi (82) batted with gumption on the final day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match to deny hosts Bengal victory at the Eden Gardens on Friday.
The visitors, who faced an uphill task to save the match on day four, lost just three wickets as the game ended in a draw with Himachal scoring 348/4, denying the hosts a golden opportunity to take full points.
Chasing a target of 472, Himachal, who were 79/1 overnight with Chopra and Kalsi unbeaten on 44 and 17 respectively, started the tough journey to save the game with a positive mind-set.
Chopra, especially, was very cautious with his strokes, building his innings brick by brick as he inched closer to the century mark. Kalsi was the first to be dismissed but before that the partnership had virtually ensured the match could only progress in one direction -- a draw.
From 191/2, Chopra continued to consolidate the innings and when he was dismissed by Akash Deep after he had crossed the century mark, Himachal could only lose if they committed harakiri.
Then, Amit Kumar (38 retired hurt), Akash Vasisht (28 not out) and skipper Rishi Dhawan (31) played with caution to ensure a draw.
Bengal's Anustup Majumdar, centurion in the first innings, was adjudged 'Player of the Match'.
Vidarbha beat Tripura by 220 runs, register second win on the trot in Group D
Spinners Akshay Wakhare and Aditya Sarwate shared seven wickets between them to guide Vidarbha to a 220-run win over Tripura, their second consecutive in the Ranji Trophy Group D on Friday.
Vidarbha declared their second innings on 379 for 8 after resuming the day at 348 for 6, thereby setting Tripura an improbable target of 345 runs.
Ganesh Satish (151) top-scored for Vidarbha in their second innings while wicketkeeper Akshay Wadkar made 88.
Chasing, Tripura were bowled out for 124 in 51.2 overs with off-spinner Wakhare (4/50) and left-arm tweaker Sarwate (3/45) shining with the ball for Vidarbha.
Medium pacer Rajneesh Gurbani (2/14) also chipped in with two wickets.
This was Vidarbha's second win on the trot in Group D after having defeated Railways by 194 runs in their opening match.
In another Group D match, Punjab and Railways played out a draw. But Punjab took home three points from the contest by virtue of first-innings lead, while Railways had to be content with one point.
Shorey hits unbeaten ton as Delhi-Assam match ends in draw
Opener Dhruv Shorey continued from where he had left off in the first innings, scoring an unbeaten 150 on the last day to add to his unconquered 252 in the first innings as Delhi managed to secure a draw against Assam in a Ranji Trophy Group B match here on Friday.
Shorey, thus, ended up scoring a total of 402 runs and would like to continue his rich form when the team takes on Tamil Nadu in its third Ranji fixture from December 27.
The 30-year-old flourished in the company of fellow opener Anuj Rawat (109), who after his first-innings disappointment, scored a century as Delhi lost just one wicket on way to 292 on the concluding day.
Earlier, Assam declared their first innings at 443 for 9 after being 435 for 8 overnight.
Rishav Das emerged as the highest scorer for his side, scoring 160, while Gokul Sharma (140) was the other centurion.
The duo gave Assam the psychological first-innings lead of four runs over Delhi.
The day belonged to Shorey and wicketkeeper-batter Rawat who stitched together a 226-run partnership for the opening wicket and made Assam bowlers toil all day long without success.
Both the openers scored at a brisk pace with Shorey's unbeaten 150 coming off just 188 deliveries at a strike rate of nearly 80 and was studded with 18 boundaries and two sixes.
Rawat, after being dismissed for 2 in the first innings, dug in his spikes to score at a brisk strike rate of 80.74, smashing 10 fours and four maximums.
Shorey was adjudged 'Player of the Match' for his massive effort in both innings. Maharashtra had defeated Delhi by nine wickets in the Ranji first-round match.
