A fighting 70 by P Patel helped Saurashtra come good in their second innings and salvage a draw against Gujarat in their West Zone League Under-14 tournament match at the Gujarat Stadium in Ahmedabad on Monday.

Opting to bat on the opening day on Saturday, Gujarat amassed 357 runs, the highlights being that three batsmen got into the eighties. Opener S Patel (89) was the first significant contributor. He shared a opening stand of 59 runs with A Padhya (13) and then a second wicket stand of 66 runs ensued between S Patel and M Patel. The second batsman to be dismissed in the eighties was F Guard (87). He put on 124 runs for the fifth wicket with T Brahmbhatt (86). Thereafter none of the other batsmen made any substantial contributions and the innings folded up in the 121st over.

Saurashtra's response was a disaster as Guard (4 for 51) and Sunny Patel (3 for 13) ran through the side. The topscorer in the total of 143 was P Patel with 34 runs to his credit. Saurashtra followed on, 214 runs behind. On the final day, however they put up a gallant fight even after losing an early wicket, that of S Jackson (0) trapped leg before by S Patel in the first over.

Then the other opener K Makwana (53) was joined by V Rajan (61) and together they took the score to 101. After their dismissals, P Patel (70 not out) and R Dave (35) took the score along to 192. But it was P Patel who saved the day for Saurashtra as he remained unbeaten at the end while sharing an unbeaten 63 run stand for the fifth wicket with P Parmer (21 not out). During his 179-minute stay at the crease, Patel faced 159 balls and hit eight boundaries as Saurashtra closed at 255 for four wickets.

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