Brilliant centuries by S Badarinath and S Sharath and their fourth wicket partnership worth 229 runs helped Tamil Nadu draw their match against Bengal in the four-day Ranji Trophy Elite Group B league match, which concluded at the India Cements grounds at Tirunelveli on Wednesday.
Bengal, who have been defeated by Rajasthan and Karnataka earlier, gained two points from this match. However, Tamil Nadu did not receive any points and remained on nine points.
Tamil Nadu, who were bundled out for 188 runs on Tuesday in their first innings after Bengal scored 400 in their first innings, were forced to follow-on.
Resuming at their overnight score of 110 for the loss of two wickets, Tamil Nadu amassed 397 runs at the loss of four wickets when the match was called off after the fall of Badarinath's wicket.
Badrinath's century included 20 fours and one six in his 468 minutes stay and faced 346 balls. The partnership with Sharath, who was unbeaten with 101 runs, produced 229 runs in 225 minutes in 56.1 overs.
The third wicket partnership between Badarinath and Madangopal contributed 98 runs in 46 overs.
Bengal's medium pace bowler Shib Sankar Paul, who was responsible for Tamil Nadu's first innings collapse, claimed 10 wickets conceding 147 runs. He has already claimed 24 wickets in the new Ranji season.
In their next match, Tamil Nadu will take on Gujarat while Bengal will meet Assam.
Scoreboard:
Bengal 1st innings: 400
Tamil Nadu 1st innings: 188
Tamil Nadu 2nd innings (overnight 110-2)
S Suresh lbw Paul 10
D Karthik b Chatterjee 35
Badarinath c Chakraborthy b Paul 190
Madanagopal lbw Paul 42
S Sharath not out 101
Extras: (b-11, lb-4, w-1, nb-3) 19
Total (for 4 wkts in 119.5 overs) 397
Fall of wickets: 1/23, 2/70, 3/168, 4/397.
Bowling: Shib Sankar Paul 35.5-11-103-3, I R Shukla 17-0-78-0, Saajib Sanyal 12-0-69-0, Chatterjee 28-7-47-1, S Lahiri 22-4-71-0, S S Singh 5-0-14-0.