Srinagar: Defending champions Jammu and Kashmir survived a major scare to escape with a draw against Madhya Pradesh in their Ranji Trophy Group A opener after rain and bad light denied the visitors an opportunity to push for victory on the fourth and final day here on Wednesday.
Chasing a daunting target of 326 after Madhya Pradesh declared their second innings at 249 for six, Jammu and Kashmir were reeling at 88 for seven when the match ended, with the home team staring at defeat before the weather intervened.
Madhya Pradesh, who had resumed their second innings at 151 for five on Tuesday, declared at 249 for six after captain Shubham Sharma completed a magnificent unbeaten century, scoring 106 off 200 balls, with seven fours and three sixes.
After adding 75 runs with Atharva Mahajan, Sharma found an able ally in Saransh Jain, who remained unbeaten on 35 off just 33 deliveries, as the pair helped Madhya Pradesh extend their lead and set Jammu and Kashmir a challenging target.
Mahajan made a valuable contribution with 39 off 94 balls, while Aryan Pandey scored 17. Auqib Nabi was the pick of the Jammu and Kashmir bowlers, claiming three wickets for 53 runs, while Sunil Kumar took two wickets.
Madhya Pradesh’s declaration left the hosts with a stiff fourth-innings chase, but their batting collapsed under pressure against a relentless bowling attack.
Avesh Khan struck early, dismissing Shubham Khajuria for a duck and Qamran Iqbal for four, while Aryan Pandey removed Shubham Pundir for four to leave Jammu and Kashmir tottering at eight for three.
Avesh then accounted for Abdul Samad, who departed without scoring, before Pandey dismissed captain Paras Dogra for four to reduce the hosts to 12 for five inside six overs.
Kanhaiya Wadhawan offered some resistance with 26 before retiring hurt, but Lone Nasir fell for 13 to leave Jammu and Kashmir struggling at 51 for six.
Auqib Nabi was unbeaten on 30 when the match was called off.
Avesh returned figures of three for 30, while Pandey also claimed three wickets for 31 runs to put Madhya Pradesh firmly in control.
The result denied Madhya Pradesh a potentially significant victory, while Jammu and Kashmir will be relieved to have avoided defeat despite being outplayed in the final innings.
In other Group A matches, Vidarbha beat Puducherry by 160 runs in Nagpur, while Baroda defeated Goa by an innings and 135 runs in Panaji.
