Saurashtra were struggling to avoid an innings defeat against Maharashtra on the third-day of their four-day Ranji Trophy Plate Group 'B' match at Rajkot on Tuesday.
Saurashtra, who conceded a 266 runs first innings lead to Maharashtra, lost opener A Merchant and skipper S Kotak for just 65 runs in their second essay. They still need 201 more to avoid an innings defeat.
K Vaghela (28) and J Shah (6) were at the crease at the draw of stumps.
For Maharashtra Iqbal Siddiqui and B K Adhav took one wicket each.
Earlier, Maharashtra resuming at their overnight score of 275 for six, ended their innings at 443. K Khadilkar, top scored for the visitors with 104 runs.
Scoreboard:
Saurashtra first innings: 177
Maharashtra first innings:
D Jadhav run out 67
N Godbole lbw S Jobanputra 30
H Kanitkar b N Doshi 60
K Aphale b R Dhruv 17
S Shah c S Kotak b R Dhruv 36
R Khirid c P Bhatt b S Jobanputra 4
K Khadikar c S Kotak b R Dhruv 104
S Satbhai run out 66
I Siddiqui c A Kamliya b J Shah 8
C Kulkarni not out 29
K Adhav c S Kotak b R Dhruv 0
Extras: (b-14, lb-4, nb-4) 22
Total (all out, 161.5 overs) 443
Fall of wickets: 1-96, 2-108, 3-145, 4-207, 5-212, 6-237, 7-353, 8-36, 9-443
Bowling: S Jobanputra 34-4-121-2, K Vaghela 25-8-62-0, A Merchant 3-0-8-0, R Dhruv 30.5-8-69-4, N Odedara 34-11-59-0, N Doshi 22-5-64-1, S Kotak 5-2-13-0, J Shah 8-2-29-1.
Saurashtra 2nd innings:
K Vaghela not out 28
A Merchant c Satbhai b K Adhav 20
S Kotak lbw I Siddiqui 4
J Shah not out 6
Extras: (b-2, lb-2, nb-3) 7
Total (for 2 wkts, 43 overs) 65
Fall of wickets: 1-44, 2-55.
Bowling: I Siddiqui 7-2-17-1, R Khirid 9-4-20-0, C Kulkarni 4-2-5-0, K Khadikar 9-4-8-0, K Adhav 10-5-10-1, H Kanitkar 4-3-1-0.
