Here are highlights from Day 4 of the opening round of the 2017-18 Ranji Trophy.
Bengal bowlers failed to bag more than seven wickets as Services batted out 77 overs on the final day to secure a point from their Group D Ranji Trophy encounter.
Chasing an improbable target of 355 runs from minimum 77 overs, Services managed to hang on, ending at 212 for seven after Bengal batted an hour on the final day to declare on 161 for five in 22 overs.
On a placid Airforce Sports Complex track, it would have always been difficult to get 20 wickets.
Bengal skipper Manoj Tiwary possibly can't be blamed for giving a bit of rest to his bowlers after they send down 111.2 overs in the Services first innings.
Bengal did harbour serious thoughts of victory after 43 overs when half of the Services team were back in the pavilion for 124 runs.
The bowlers had another 34 overs to get the remaining five wickets but left-handed Vikas Hathwala (64, 71 balls) and Muzaffaruddin Khalid (9 no off 99 balls) added 75 runs for the sixth wicket but more importantly consumed nearly 22 overs to frustrate the Bengal attack.
Amir Gani (1/57 in 26 overs) was not as effective as in the first innings and the Services duo, especially Khalid was ready to block anything and everything on an easy track.
Services were 208 for seven at the end of the 70th over with another seven overs of play left.
But Khalid decided to take bulk of the strike with Shamsher Yadav (4 no, 18 balls) for company as the match ended in a draw.
Delhi today missed a golden opportunity to register an outright win as Assam managed to sneak home with a point defending a target of 79 in 14 overs during final hour of play.
What looked like a cakewalk in the first hour ended in disappointment for the home team as they managed only 49 runs in eight overs under fading light when umpires were forced to call off the day's proceedings.
Adequate gamesmanship from Assam also helped them earn a psychological point from their opening Group A encounter.
Unmukt Chand (25) failed to pierce the off-side field in fading light while Anuj Rawat's inexperience showed.
T20 specialist Nitish Rana (4) also failed going for a slog.
Assam captain Gokul Sharma spread the field with deep third man, deep point, deep midwicket and deep fine leg to stop the boundaries. Then at one point there were eight fielders at boundary giving batsmen chance to run two.
The Assam bowlers also used time wasting tactics to delay the proceedings with the light only getting worse.
They would stop at run up, take their own time, tend to injuries.
However, the Delhi bowlers inability to get 10 wickets within enough time despite a 177-run first innings lead was the reason for their failure.
Starting the day at 60 for three, Assam batted with dogged determination as they consumed 108.4 overs to score 255.
More importantly, Shib Shankar Roy (87) and wicketkeeper Wasiqur Rahaman (63) frustrated the Delhi bowlers for 25 overs adding 61 runs.
Ishant Sharma (0/41 in 17 overs) bowled his heart out but as it had happened in international cricket in the past, he looked clueless as to how to get wickets on an unresponsive pitch.
Navdeep Saini was the best bowler for Delhi but he would rue his luck that his delivery that got Wasiqur early on in his innings turned out to be a no-ball.
Wasiqur played 168 balls which proved that Delhi never had enough time to win the game.
Brief Scores:
Assam 258 and 255 (SS Roy 87, Wasiqur Rahaman 63)
Delhi 435 and (target 79 in 14 overs) 49/2 in 8 overs.
Points: Delhi 3 Assam 1.
Hyderabad vs Maharashtra: Match abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Bengal: 552/9 decl & 161/5 decl (Abhimanyu Easwaran 46, Wriddhiman Saha 22).
Services: 359 & (target 355) 212/7 decl (Vikas Hathwala 64, Muzaffaruddin Khalid 9 not out; Kanishk Seth 2/18).
Points: Bengal 3; Services 1
Himachal Pradesh: 729/8 decl & 145/6 (Paras Dogra 45, Prashant Chopra 22).
Punjab: 601 (Abhishek Gupta 202, Abhishek Sharma 94).
Points: Punjab 1; Himachal Pradesh 3
Chattisgarh: 455
Goa: 277 and 170/7 (Sumit Ruikar 5/29).
Points: Chattisgarh 3; Goa 1.
Rajasthan: 330 & 246/4 (Rajesh Bishnoi 101, Mahipal Lomror 65).
J&K: 436/8 decl (Ahmed Bandy 102, Parveez Rasool 97).
Points: J&K 3 Rajasthan 1.
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