Williams carries bat for 237

Baroda's in form opener Cecil Williams carried his bat for 237 to help his team gain the first innings lead as the West Zone Ranji Trophy league match against Saurashtra ended in a tame draw at the Municipal stadium in Rajkot on Thursday.

The feature of the last day's play was the intense struggle for the first innings lead. Resuming at 313 for four in reply to Saurashtra's 437, Baroda lost wickets at regular intervals but their hopes were kept alive by Williams holding one end firmly and also keeping the runs coming. Baroda lost eight wickets for 385 when Williams was joined by Z Khan. The two batsmen shared a ninth wicket prtnership of 42 runs off only 4.2 overs before Khan was out for a breezy 32 off just 16 balls with six fours and a six. Baroda were still ten runs short when Buch joined Williams, who had in the meantime reached his double century. The last wicket pair took the score past Saurashtra and added 60 runs off 15.5 overs before Buch was out for 25, compiled off 47 balls and inclusive of four hits to the ropes. Williams remained unconquered after batting 628 minutes. He faced 480 balls and hit 30 fours and a six.

In the remaining time, Saurashtra scored 127 for four wickets in their second innings with Buch picking up all the wickets to fall for 55 runs. The consistent opener Vasanth Kumar slammed 42 out of 46 off 39 deliveries with seven hits to the ropes.