Guwahati: Continuing their impressive run, the Assam team secured their second draw of the ongoing Ranji Trophy season, this time against Delhi, but more importantly grabbed three points on the basis of their first innings lead from the Group B outing at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium that ended here on Friday.
After Dhruv Shorey’s double century lifted Delhi to a formidable 439 in the first innings, the home team banked on centuries from Rishav Das (160) and Gokul Sharma (140) to launch a perfect counterattack and declare a slender 4-run lead. Mukhtar Hussain also came up with a handsome 48 off 57 deliveries and laced with six fours and a six to propel Assam to a convincing 443 before the declaration.
In the second innings, Delhi once again got off to a perfect start with Shorey (150 not out) registering his second century of the match, and fellow opener Anuj Rawat complimenting him well to forge together a 226-run opening stand before both captains decided to shake hands, signalling the draw.
Tripura, the only other NE team in the Elite group, suffered a crushing 220-run defeat to Vidarbha in their Group D encounter, held in Nagpur. After conceding a 35-run first innings lead, the home side banked on a scintillating unbeaten 151-run effort from Ganesh Satish and an equally crafty half-century from Akshay Wadkar (88) to put on a formidable 345-run target for Tripura.
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In reply, Tripura was skittled out for a paltry 124. Akshay Wakhare (4/50) and Aditya Sarwate (3/45) shared seven wickets between them to give the home side full six points.
Among the other North Eastern teams in action, Meghalaya and Mizoram registered commanding wins in their Plate Group matches against Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, respectively. Manipur managed to secure a draw against Bihar.
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