HP hold on for draw

Chandigarh, February 7

Himachal Pradesh safely played out the final day to earn a point from their draw against Railways in the Ranji Trophy Group B match in Delhi today.

Starting Day 4 at 24/0 and still trailing Railways by 238 runs, HP lost both their openers, Ankush Bains (2) and Prashant Chopra (37) early on. No. 4 batsman Amit Kumar scored a gutsy 71 off 125 balls and added solid partnerships with No. 3 Akash Vashist (26) and captain Ankit Kalsi (27 not out) to see the day out.

Only the top five teams from the combined Group A and B make the quarterfinals. Two teams go through from Group C, while one team moves ahead from the Plate Group.

With one match to play, HP are out of contention for the knockouts, Punjab and Haryana are still in the mix, while J&K have virtually sealed a knockout berth.

Mumbai out, Gujarat, Saurashtra qualify

Gujarat and Saurashtra qualified for the knockouts, but Mumbai were knocked out. Kerala will be relegated to Group C next season.

Chasing 292 for a win, Gujarat were 128/2, with Manprit Juneja batting on 51 and Bhargav Merai on 42, when it was decided to call it a draw.

Gujarat pocketed three points and reached the top of the points table in the combined Group A and B.

Saurashtra also qualified for the quarterfinals after a draw with Mumbai. Mumbai were on course for a win with their spinners reducing Saurashtra to 83/7 with more than a session to go. But Kamlesh Makvana (31 not out off 116) and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja (33 not out off 125) dug deep for almost 40 overs.

In other matches, Delhi and Gujarat settled for a draw as Bengal beat Rajasthan by two wickets.

Brief scores: HP: 283 & 165/3 (Amit 71); Railways: 545/7 decl.