PANAJI
Late order resistance by Rajasthan may have done in suffice for the visitors to avert the follow-on, but not enough to deny Goa the bragging rights of the first innings lead in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group C clash at the Academy ground in Porvorim on Friday.
Resuming at 245-6, Rajasthan lost another wicket at the start of the seventh over of the morning session. Wicket-keeper batsman Kunal Singh Rathore succumbed on 31 leg before to right-arm offbreak bowler Mohit Redkar.
At 262-7 it seemed not too far when Goa would have the visitors all out and enforce a follow-on. But the Rajasthan tail was to have a happy day. It made the Goa bowlers toil hard under the sun and look largely ineffective. Shubham Sharma found an ally in Manav Suthar to allow their tail to wag. The duo took the score to 298, when Sharma (29) was the eighth Rajasthan batter to fall, bowled by Slow Left arm Orthodox bowler, Darshan Misal.
Suthar who began his innings slowly, picked up the scoring rate as new man, Arafat Khan joined him. The counter-attacking Suthar (48*) along with Khan (26*) who grew in confidence as well took Rajasthan to lunch at 358 in 107 overs. Their unbroken 60-run ninth wicket breezy stand was realized in only 63 balls. Rajasthan still needed 40 more runs to avert follow-on.
Second delivery post lunch it was Mohit Redkar who provided the breakthrough with Suthar leg before on 48 (95b, 8x4, 1x6). At 358-9, the match was now only of academic interest. But Rajasthan were not throwing in the towel just yet. The last man, Aniket Choudhary joined hands with his new ball partner, Arafat Khan, and began an unlikely alliance with the bat.
The pair looked rarely troubled with whatever bowling changes Goa captain, Darshan Misal called upon. Khan-Choudhary provided a rare spectacle for the last wicket with their tight defence interjected with finding the gaps for the ones and twos as well as audacious strokeplay. The pair looked on course to take the visitors to tea unseparated, and Goa a thought difficult to stomach. Against the run of play though, Arjun Tendulkar bowled Choudhary on 38 (63b, 2x4, 2x6) to claim his third wicket and draw Rajasthan to a first innings close at 456 in 133.1 overs. Arafat Khan stayed unbeaten on 80 (130b, 9x4, 2x6), with the last pair both registering their First Class highest individual scores. The tenth wicket realized an entertaining partnership to the neutrals of 98 runs that came in 155 deliveries with six hits to the ropes and four maximums.
Right-arm offbreak bowler Mohit Redkar, on First Class debut was the main draw in the Goa attack with returns of 5-113. With the match petering to a tame draw and tea to be shortly taken, the teams agreed to shake hands and umpires called for stumps.
