Vadodara: Baroda middle-order batter Shashwat Rawat struck a gritty century but could not stop table-toppers Jharkhand from taking a huge 215-run first-innings lead in their Ranji Tropy Group A match here on Monday.
Rawat, who was unbeaten on 20 overnight, dug in his heels on day three to score 106 off 230 deliveries and help Baroda reach 291 all out in reply to Jharkhand’s first-innings total of 506.
At stumps, Jharkhand were 10 for one, and ahead by 225 runs overall.
It wasn’t an appealing sight watching Rawat slug it out at a snail’s pace after Baroda had been reduced to 78 for 3 on Sunday.
Rawat’s entire innings produced five boundaries and a six, though his 123-run partnership for the fifth wicket with keeper-batter Mitesh Patel (61 off 147 balls) probably denied Jharkhand an innings victory.
Jharkhand could have enforced a follow-an after taking a 215-run lead but they decided to bat again to perhaps put enough runs on the board in the first session on the final day on Tuesday and then try their luck for an outright win.
When Rawat and Patel were at the crease, it was a grind for the Jharkhand bowlers who toiled without much success on a docile wicket. But once Rawat departed, dismissed by right-arm pacer Sahil Raj (4/63), wickets fell in a heap with Rishav Raj (4/70) too taking four wickets.
Baroda batted more than 72 overs on day 3 and scored just 213 runs.
At stumps, opener Shikhar Mohan (9 not out) and Rishav Raj were at the crease.
In Visakhapatnam, Andhra won a low-scoring match against Tamil Nadu by four wickets by chasing down the 201-run target in 41.2 overs with opener Abhishek Reddy (70) and Karan Shinde (51) striking half-centuries.
Brief Scores:
In Vadodara: Jharkhand 506 & 10 for 1 vs Baroda 291 in 103.2 overs (Shashwat Rawat 106, Vishnu Solanki 65, Mitesh Patel 61; Sahil Raj 4/63, Rishav Raj 4/70).
In Kanpur: Uttar Pradesh 535 for 6 decl bt Nagaland 117 & (f/o) 153 in 51.1 overs (Chetan Bist 53; Shivam Sharma 5/25, Karan Sharma 3/72) by an innings and 265 runs.
In Nagpur: Vidarbha 286 & 218 for 2 decl in 59 overs (Aman Mokhade 101 not out, Dhruv Shorey 101) vs Odisha 160 & 44 for no loss (Swastik Samal 25 not out).
In Visakhapatnam: Tamil Nadu 182 & 195 in 70.3 overs (Balasubramaniam Sachin 51) lost to Andhra 177 & 201 for 6 in 41.2 overs (Abhishek Reddy 70, Karan Shinde 51; Sai Kishore 3/46) by 4 wickets.
