Baroda draw against Orissa, to play Delhi in Ranji semis

BARODA, December 28: A 215-run stand for the eighth wicket helped Baroda to a draw against Orissa and set the stage for a clash with Delhi in the Super League semi-final of the Ranji Trophy.
The hosts were reduced to 187 for eight and Orissa would have entertained thoughts of an outright win at that stage. But a double century partnership between Pinal Shah (148, 14x4, 2x6) and Rajesh Pawar (91, 7x4, 1x6) put paid to the visitors hopes.
Orissa had claimed a first innings lead of 39 and would have fancied a victory if they had managed to finish off Baroda quickly.
When play was called off after eight mandatory overs, Baroda had totalled 424 for nine, an overall lead of 385 runs.
Resuming at their overnight score of 120 for three, Baroda lost the wickets of S A Gaekwad (61) and A A Bilakhia (49), who put on 115 runs for the fourth wicket.
They were soon struggling with promising medium pacer Basant Mohanty claiming three wickets and veteran Debasis Mohanty and Saurav Sehgal claiming two scalps each.
Orissa skipper Shiv Sundar Das rotated the eight bowlers at his disposal but could not dislodge Shah, the Baroda wicketkeeper, and left-arm spinner Pawar, quickly enough.
When the stand was finally broken, Baroda had reached 402, a lead of 363.
From January 5, Baroda will take on Delhi in the semis clash at Indore, while Saurashtra will meet Uttar Pradesh here.