Rawat battles hard to earn a point for Railways

Bhubaneswar: A hard-fought hundred by Mahesh Rawat and PM Madkaikar`s half-century knock helped Railways escape defeat against Madhya Pradesh and earn a point in their Ranji Trophy Group A encounter, which ended in a draw on the fourth and final day here on Tuesday.

Struggling at 54 for five and still trailing Madhya Pradesh by 110 runs to avoid an innings defeat, it was a matter of survival for Railways today. And they managed to achieve that uphill task as they finished the final day`s play at 251 for eight with Rawat scoring a brilliant 106 off 200 balls, hitting 16 fours in the process. He spent 297 minutes in the middle. PM Madkaikar also played an important innings of 52 from 169 balls, laced with five boundaries and a six. In reply to MP`s first innings total of 377, Railways were bundled out for 214 in their first essay and then were enforced a followed on. Resuming on 54 for five while following on, Railways lost V Cheluvaraj, who started on 23, early. The overnight batsman could add only seven more runs to the total. When Cheluvaraj got out, Railways were reeling at 70 for six and MP must have thought that it was just a matter of time before they could pocket full six point from this game. But the other overnight batsman, Rawat, slogged it hard and in the able company of Madkaikar, took the the team forward. The duo put on a valuable 148-run stand together for the seventh wicket and made sure that Railways finish with a draw. The MP bowlers tried hard but could take only three opposition wickets on the entire day. Brief scores: MP: 377 Railways: 214 & 251 for eight in 113 overs (Mahesh Rawat 106, PM Madkaikar 52; Amarjeet Singh 3/15, Anand Rajan 3/52). Points: MP 3, Railways 1. PTI