Jaydev Unadkat picked up six wickets as Saurashtra held their nerve to win by four wickets against Baroda in a Group B Elite game on Wednesday.
Saurashtra had 200 to chase down and were on the mat at 113/6. But Aarpit Vasavada and Prerak Mankad got together and they took the bull by the horns, adding 87 to take Saurashtra over the line by four wickets.
Vasavada made 48 not out, Mankad finished with an unbeaten 36. The outright win strengthens this position as far as quarter-finals qualification goes. In six games, they have 25 points with three wins.
In Surat in a Group A game, Gujarat need 105 more to win against Vidarbha.
At 104/6, Vidarbha were down in the dumps, leading by just 36. Then, they were lifted by a seventh-wicket partnership of 82 between Akshay Wadkar and Aditya Sarvate to help swell their lead. Wadkar top scored with 87.
At close of play, Gujarat were tottering at 74/4 with Aditya Thakare picking up all four wickets for the defending champions.
fight for 3 points
Kolkata: Hosts Bengal and Delhi fought hard for three points as rain and bad light allowed less than an hour’s play on the penultimate day of their Group A match.
Middle-order batsman Jonty Sidhu was unbeaten on 49 after surviving an lbw off a no-ball, while Subodh Bhati looked edgy for his 25-ball seven as Delhi were 217 for 7, still trailing Bengal by 101 runs as only 9.3 overs were possible in the entire day.
Both the teams will look to get a first innings lead to secure three points, even as more rain is forecast for the final day.
Goa jump to top
Porvorim: Amit Verma led by example with a match-haul of nine wickets and an unbeaten century as Goa recorded an innings and 336-run win over Arunachal Pradesh inside three days in their Plate group fixture. The bonus point victory helped Goa (37 points) to the top spot in the Plate group, four points clear of Puducherry.
Nine for three after following-on, Arunachal Pradesh were bundled out for 170 in 49.2 overs with legspinner Verma returning with 6/71.
Rahul Dalal waged a lone battle with a 98-ball 68 but Verma cut short his resistance en route to his sixth five-wicket haul in first-class cricket.
Arunachal were shot out for a paltry 83 in reply to Goa’s mammoth 589/2 declared in the first innings.
Assam’s fightback
Cuttack: Openers Kunal Saikia (62 batting) and Subham Mandal (40 batting) led Assam’s fightback in the second innings with a century parntership after being forced to follow on by Odisha on the third day of Group C match.
Assam was bowled out for 238 in reply to Odisha’s first innings score of 436 with Ranjeet Mali (59) and opener Kunal Saikia (53) being the major contributors.
Resuming at the overnight score of 59 for 3, the visitors slipped to 147 for 7, losing the wickets of Rishav Das (37) and talented Riyan Parag (43).
Wicket-keeper Saikia and Mali, batting at No 9, launched a rearguard action and added 58 runs for the eighth wicket.
Asked to follow-on, Assam was provided a solid start by Mandal and Kunal Saikia, who was promoted to open, as they added 102 runs in 31 overs.
The visiting team still needs 96 runs to make Odisha bat again.
Meanwhile in Agartala, Maharashtra scored 103 for 2 in the second innings and needs 101 more runs to secure a victory against Tripura.