: Tamil Nadu gained three points for

: Tamil Nadu gained three points for

securing the first innings lead against Delhi on the final day of its final Ranji Trophy Group B match here Thursday.

Resuming at the overnight score of 268 for 6, Delhi's hopes of overhauling the host's first innings total of 432 rested on centurion Jonty Sidhu and Lalit Yadav extending their partnership.

The duo started in a promising manner and played some attractive shots.

The lanky Sidhu used his reach to counter the Tamil Nadu spinners- R Sai Kishore and Mohan Prasath.

He also hit a superb straight six off Vijay Shankar.

Yadav looked good to join Sidhu in scoring a ton, but fell to Sai Kishore for 91.

 

Kishore got him caught in the short cover region when playing a drive, ending a partnership of 170 runs off 340 balls for the 7th wicket.

The left-arm spinner had Subodh Bhati caught off the first ball of his next over at slip by captain B Indrajith, but his chances of a hat-trick were foiled by a defence-minded Vikas Mishra.

Mishra lasted 42 balls but didn't trouble the scorers and was run-out going for a second run.

Navdeep Sain, the No.11, lasted only eight balls and his wicket gave Kishore a well-deserved five-wicket haul.

Batting a second time, Tamil Nadu was 113 for 1 in 40 overs when it chose to declare and bring an end to the proceedings.

Opener N Jagadeesan helped himself to 59 not out as the match meandered to a draw.

Tamil Nadu secured three points to take its final tally after eight matches to 15,while Delhi finished with 14 points.

Meanwhile at Amtar, Kerala beat Himachal Pradesh by five wickets on the final day to grab six points and reach 26 points.

Nineties by Vinoop Sheela Manoharan and captain Sachin Baby set up the win while Sanju Samson's unbeaten 62 finished things off.

Kerala became the only team from Group 'B' to secure a spot in the quarterfinal.

Final points tally: Group B: 1.

Kerala: Played: 8, Won: 4, Lost: 3, Draw: 1, Points: 26, 2.

Madhya Pradesh: P: 8, W: 3, L: 2, D: 3, P: 24, 3.

Bengal: P: 8, W: 2, L: 1, D: 5, P: 23, 4.

Punjab: P: 8, W: 2, L: 1, D: 5, Pts: 23, 5.

Himachal: P: 8, W: 3, L: 3, D: 2, P: 22, 6.

Andhra: P: 8, W: 1, L: 2, D: 5, P: 17, 7.

Hyderabad: P: 8, W: 1, L: 1, D: 5, P: 17, 8.

Tamil Nadu: P: 8, W: 1, L: 2, D: 5, P: 15, 9.

Delhi: P: 8, W: 1, L: 3, D: 4, P: 14.

Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 432 & 113 for 1 declared in 40 overs (N Jagadeesan 59 not out) drew with Delhi 336 all out in 133.1 overs (Jonty Sidhu 140 not out (320 Balls, 14x4, 4x6), Lalit Yadav 91 (192 Balls, 14x4, 1x6), Himmat Singh 39, R Sai Kishore 5 for 90).

Points: TN: 3, Delhi: 1.

At Amtar: Himachal 297 and 285 for 8 declared in 52.1 overs lost to Kerala 286 and 299 for 5 in 67 overs (Vinoop Sheela Manoharan 96, Sachin Baby 92, Sanju Samson 61 not out) by five wickets.

Points: Kerala: 6, Himachal: 0.