A last wicket partnership of 87 runs off 44 overs between Shasher Singh (59 not out) and Rajkumar Benwal (24) enabled Rajasthan to take the first innings lead in their Vijay Merchant Trophy Central Zone league tie against Vidarbha which concluded at Nagpur on Tuesday.

Replying to Vidarbha's first innings total of 303, Rajasthan were 262 for nine when Shasher and Benwal came together and took their side past the Vidarbha total. The obdurate Benwal batted for 3-1/2 hours and faced 136 balls hitting only one boundary. Shasher batted 170 minutes, faced 146 balls and hit six fours. Earlier opener Gurjar (82, 190 balls, six fours) and A Khan (93, 188 balls, 12 fours, one six) had added 82 runs for the fourth wicket. Then Khan and Choudhary (18) put on 65 runs for the seventh wicket.

Earlier, valuable contributions from opener Ali Akbar Arif (95, 142 balls, 17 fours), Alind Naidu (52, 115 balls, six fours) and CE Atram (77, 179 balls, 11 fours) helped Vidarbha to reach a challenging total. Ali Akbar and Naidu put on 111 runs for the second wicket. For Rajasthan Shamsher Singh took five wickets for 88 runs from 35 overs.

When stumps were finally drawn, Vidarbha were 19 for two off six overs in their second innings. Rajasthan got five points and Vidarbha three.

© CricInfo