Our Sports Reporter
GUWAHATI: A brilliant century from Sarupam Purkayastha went in vain as Assam surrendered the first-innings lead to Railways in their third Ranji Trophy encounter, which ended in a draw here on Tuesday. Despite the match concluding without an outright result, Assam lost valuable points after conceding a slender 15-run lead.
The opening two days of the game were severely affected by bad weather, but once play resumed, Assam’s bowlers performed well to bowl out Railways for 224 in first innings.. By the end of Day 3, Assam looked in a strong position at 99 for 1, needing just 126 more runs with nine wickets in hand to take the first-innings lead.
However, the batting line-up crumbled on the final day, being bowled out for 209. That collapse handed Railways three points from the drawn encounter.
Assam’s trouble began early when Abhishek Thakuri (20) fell quickly, and though Sarupam Purkayastha anchored one end with a composed knock, wickets kept tumbling at the other. The middle order once again failed to capitalize on their starts — Denish Das (17), Riyan Parag (12), S. Ghadigaonkar (5), and Sibsankar Roy (14) all perished cheaply.
Adarsh Singh produced a fiery spell for Railways, almost claiming a hat-trick by taking three wickets in four deliveries, dismissing Sibsankar Roy, Mukhtar Hussain, and Akash Sengupta in quick succession. He finished with superb figures of 6 for 48 from 14.4 overs, while Karan Sharma bagged two wickets.
Amid the collapse, Sarupam remained unfazed, displaying fine temperament to register his third first-class century. Resuming on 70 overnight, he went on to score a fluent 121 off 179 balls, decorated with 17 boundaries and a six.
In their second innings, Railways reached 97 for 1 before the match came to an end. Sarupam Purkayastha claimed the lone wicket to fall, while S. Ahuja (57) and Ansh Yadav (20) were unbeaten at the close of play.
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