Bangalore: A valuable 228 run partnership for the fifth wicket between Y Venugopal Rao and Devang Gandhi helped Elite 'A' post 364 runs for the loss of five wickets on the penultimate day against Plate 'B' in its Duleep Trophy encounter on Saturday. With its key batsmen resting in the pavilion Elite 'A' trailing by 205 runs was virtually struggling to surpass the mammoth total of 569 runs piled by Plate 'B' and came under the threat of conceding the vital first innings lead to its rivals. Resuming its overnight score of 52 for the loss of one wicket, Elite 'A' lost the wicket of Daniel Manohar of the bowling of Narendra Hirwani, with an addition of just four runs. Elite 'A' came under pressure when S Sriram was stumped by A V Deshpande off a Hirwani delivery with the side's score reading 72 for the loss of three wickets. Devang Gandhi (131) and Y Venugopal Rao (124 not out) played a patient knock and kept the score board moving. Gandhi's blistering 131 was studded with 20 boundaries and a big six during his 312 minutes stay facing 222 balls and Venugopal Rao defied the Plate 'B' attack with the ball reaching the fence 17 times in his knock spanning 291 minutes of 223 balls. Hirwani who rattled the Elite 'A' innings claimed four wickets conceding 118 runs. Venugopal Rao on 124 and Deep Das Gupta on 4 were batting when stumps were drawn for the day. Extras:
Plate 'B' posts a massive total against Elite 'A'

Tags: cricket, y venugopal rao, devang gandhi, duleep trophy, daniel manohar, narendra hirwani, s sriram, a v deshpande, deep das gupta.