Captain Deepak Hooda scored a brilliant century in the first innings while Abhijeet Tomar and Kunal Singh Rathore hit fifties in the second as the Rajasthan cricket team drew its Ranji Trophy 2024-25 opener against Puducherry on Monday.
Hooda (128), the only centurion in the match, helped the home side gain the first innings lead and the valuable three points as a result of that.
Though Tomar (87) and Rathore (59) kept Rajasthan in the chase with their 138-run partnership for the second wicket, the match ended in a draw. Rajasthan ended their second innings at 220/7, 19 runs short of the target.
Electing to field first at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, Rajasthan bowled out Pondicherry for 248 runs in their first essay. Left-arm spinner Manav Suthar picked up 2/38 and Aniket Choudhary got 2/36 for Rajasthan while wicketkeeper-batter Ajay Rohera top-scored for the visitors with an unbeaten 94.
Apart from the duo, pacers Deepak Chahar and Khaleel Ahmed also scalped two wickets while Rahul Chahar got one.
In reply, Rajasthan managed to get 291, courtesy of Deepak Hooda’s century, before getting all-out. Coming in at number four, Hooda held the Rajasthan innings together and hit 14 fours and a six en route to making 128 from 197 balls.
Hooda stitched valuable half-century stands with Mahipal Lomror (62) and Manav Suthar (59) for the fourth and seventh wicket, respectively, to take Rajasthan past Puducherry’s total. Deepak Hooda was the ninth batter to be dismissed for the home team and soon the Rajasthan innings folded up for 291, with a first-innings lead of 43 runs.
The Rajasthan bowling attack was on top again, bowling out the Puducherry batters for the second time in the match for just 281 runs. This left the hosts with a target of 239 to get on the final day.
Spinner Mahipal Lomror was the pick among the Rajasthan bowlers with a spell of 3/15 while Khaleel Ahmed, Manav Suthar and Rahul Chahar all chipped in with two wickets each. For Puducherry, opener Akash Kargave and Aman Khan scored contrasting half-centuries.
Rajasthan will next meet Himachal Pradesh in their second match of Elite Group B at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on Friday, October 18.
Rajasthan vs Puducherry Ranji Trophy brief scores: Puducherry 248/10 (Ajay Rohera 94*; Aniket Choudhary 2/36, Manav Suthar 2/38) and 281/10 (Aman Khan 55, Akash Kargave 54; Mahipal Lomror 3/15, Rahul Chahar 2/44) drew with Rajasthan 291/10 (Deepak Hooda 128; Ankit Sharma 4/42, Sagar Udeshi 3/47) and 220/7 (Abhijeet Tomar 87, Kunal Singh Rathore 59; Fabid Ahmed 2/46).
