Both sides fought hard, but we couldn't have a winner even after four days of riveting cricket. That's it from our coverage of this Ranji Trophy match between Gujarat and Assam. This is Mohammad Anab signing off on behalf of my co-commentators, Arjun Bhalla and Manan Mehta, along with our scorer, Danish Elahi. Cheers.
And it ends in Draw!!! It was a hard-fought contest between the two sides. At one point it did look like Gujarat would still manage to sneak out an outright win but Assam denied them that opportunity with some solid batting.
The match started with Assam opting to bat first on day 1. They were a little too slow in their approach and took 132 overs to get to their 310 runs at a rate of only 2.3!Sibsankar Roy was the best batter of the side with a phenomenal 113.Pradyun Saikia also got a good 70 to his name. Gujarat who toiled for all these overs has Siddharth Desai pick 3 wickets for them, Arzan Nagwaswalla and Vishal Jayswal picked up 2 each.
Gujarat came out to bat with a lot of intent and excellent stroke play from the opening batters Aarya and Abhishek Desai. Both left handers were flawless in attack and defence. They notched up a stunning 200 run partnership.Abhishek departed on a gut wrenching 96 to an iffy LBW decision. Aarya was the star with the bat picking up his second first class hundred!
Assam who were wicket less on Day 2, found their voice big time on Day 3 after breaking the opening stand. From 201/0 they reduced Gujarat to 299/6. Riyan Parag was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4-86. Rahul Singh too ended with a four-fer. 4-96! However, they couldn't capitalise on that bowling effort as a late half century from Vishal Jayswal powered Gujarat to 382 gaining a 72 runs lead.
Assam who came to bat late on Day 3, within no time lost 3 wickets and were struggling at 23/3 behind by 49 runs at the end of the day. Day 4 didn't start on the best note as they lost star batter Riyan Parag in the first half an hour. Reduced to 29/4. From then on a remarkable batting resistance started. It was clear Assam were going for the draw.
5th wicket partnershipbetween night watchman Mukhtar Hussain and Sumit Ghadigaonkarlasted 158 balls.The next one between Hussain and first innings centurion Roy lasted 116 balls.Hussain unluckily was given out but played an awesome hand as nightwatchman. 44 off 149 balls!
Once Swarupam Purkayastha and Sibsankar Roy got together, Gujarat were pushed out of the game. The pair batted for 108 balls together and took the match into Tea. There was a chance created though by Hemang Patel, however captain Manan Hingrajia couldn't hold on to it in the slips. Apart from that the batter didn't give sniff to the Gujarat side. That forced the home team to call for a truce and the game ended in a Draw! A point for each!
2:59 PM, Local Time: The verdict is OUT! The first-round match between Gujarat and Assam has ended in a draw. Umpires and officials have shaken with both captains! Aarya Desai receives the Player of the Match medal for his century!
2:42 PM, Local Time: Tea, Day 4 | Despite losing Mukhtar Hussain early, Assam have played a session after losing any other wickets. The partnership between Sinsankar Roy and Swarupam Purkayastha has almost assured a draw for Assam in the first-round match against Gujarat.
Ravi Bishnoi's ripper ended Hussain's stay on 44, which later turned out to be a wrongful decision by the umpire. However, Assam took it to their stride as Sinsankar Roy & Purkayastha shared a massive stand of 66* runs. A close of tough chances went down as well, and a few close shaves went against Gujarat, but eventually, the highlight was the temperament shown by Assam's lower-middle order.
At Tea, Assam are at 192 for 6, leading by 120 runs with the opposition still needing four wickets before they could have to bat in the fourth innings. With just one session to go, where a maximum of 26 overs can be bowled, this fixture between Gujarat and Assam is heading towards a draw!
Stay with us for the one last session...
OVER 82
Assam
192/6
Swarupam Purkayastha
44(63)
Sibsankar Roy
39(96)
Jaymeet Patel
0-4(1.0)
Blocked away by Purkayastha. That would be Tea.
81.6 J Patel to S Purkayastha
0 Full ball angling in, Purkayastha defends it with a straight bat back to the bowler. TEA ON DAY 4! ASSAM 192/6. THEY EFFECTIVELY ARE 120/6! THEY ARE IN A VERY GOOD POSITION TO INFLICT A DRAW HERE!
81.5 J Patel to S Purkayastha
0 Fuller ball outside off stump, Purkayastha leaves it so easily on the front foot!