Saurashtra gained three points by virtue of their 110-run first innings lead over hosts Himachal as their four-day Ranji Trophy Super League Group A match ended in a tame draw in Dharamsala on Tuesday.
Resuming at their overnight score of 216 for the loss of six wickets, Saurashtra suffered an early blow when the parnernership between C Pujara and R Druv came to an end with the dismissal of the former.
Pujara, a former India Under-19 player, whose patient knock of 109 saved the day for the visitors, was clean bowled by V Malik.
His 110-run partnership with Druv saved Saurashtra from an imminent batting collapse.
The rest of the Saurashtra batsmen failed to impress with as many as five of them failing to reach double figures.
A Thakur of Himachal, who scalped five wickets in the second innings, was the most impressive bowler. He displayed outstanding performances in both innings and claimed a total of 11 wickets, giving away just 126 runs.
Himachal, needing 384 in their second innings to win, suffered an early jolt when Sandeep Sharma was dismissed with the score at a mere 19 runs.
After the fall of the second wicket, A Mannu joined opener Manish Gupta in the middle. They put up a partnership of 120 runs before Manish was caught by Bambhaniya off the bowling of Makwana for a personal score of 104.
The rest of the Himachal batsmen held on to secure a facile draw.
Saurashtra will next play Delhi from November 15 to 18.
Scorecard
Saurashtra (1st innings): 291
Himachal Pradesh (1st innings): 181
Saurashtra (2nd innings):
K Vaghela lbw b Thakur 0
S Jogiyani c Bisla b Thakur 24
S Kotak c Bhatia b Malik 13
C Pujara b Malik 109
J Shah lbw b Thakur 4
P Mehta c Bisla b Thakur 5
F Bambhaniya c Bisla b Sarandeep Singh 5
R Dhurv lbw b Thakur 48
K Makvana not out 19
S Jobanputra c Mannu b Bhatia 14
S Maniar c Manish Gupta b Bhatia 8
Extras: (b 4, lb 11, w 2, nb 7) 24
Total: (in 99.4 overs) 273.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-42, 3-73, 4-77, 5-83, 6-116, 7-226, 8-232, 9-253, 10-273.
Bowling: A Thakur 24-7-53-5, V Malik 24-3-79-2, Sarandeep Singh 29-9-68-1, V Bhatia 21.4-7-49-2, Sandeep Sharma 1-0-9-0.
Himachal Pradesh (2nd innings):
Manish Gupta c Bambhaniya b Makvana 104
Sandeep Sharma c Mehta b Jobanputra 7
Sangram Singh c Jogiyani b Makvana 19
A Mannu c Bambhaniya b Makvana 57
P Dogra not out 15
M Bisla not out 2.
Extras: (b 6, lb 1, w 7, nb 2) 16
Total: (for 4 wkts, in 64 overs) 220
Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-74, 3-194, 4-200.
Bowling: S Jobanputra 11-1-45-1, S Maniar 10-2-33-0, K Makvana 22-5-81-3, R Dhurv 13-5-30-0, C Pujara 3-0-16-0, S Kotak 5-3-8-0.
