Alkesh Jadav's unbeaten half-century saved Saurashtra the blushes as they managed to earn a draw against Maharashtra in the West Zone Under-14 tournament at the Rajkot Municipal Corporation Cricket Ground on Wednesday. The hosts were lucky to gain three points while Maharashtra went home with five.

Saurashtra skipper Ashish Amarkhotiya won the toss and invited the visitors to bat. But his decision backfired. Maharashtra skipper Rohit Kakade was more than happy to bat on the Rajkot pitch as he notched up 187 off 248 balls. His innings was laced with a series of 25 hits to the fence, making a hundred runs in boundaries. Kakade and Nikhil Paradkar added a huge 272-run partnership off 64 overs for the third wicket. Paradkar scored 108 off 186 balls with twelve well timed hits to the fence. Paradkar was the first to be dismissed when he mistimed a delivery from Sandeep Chavda to Pratik Patel. The partnership ended with the score at 312. Two quick wickets fell at the score of 330 and one run later the prolific Kakade was back in the pavilion. The visitors were bowled out for 432 in 119.2 overs. Ajinkya Joshi was unbeaten with 58 off 106 balls with seven boundaries. Sandeep Chavda was the most successful bowler bagging five for 87.

In reply, the hosts began on a happy note with both openers Karan Makwana (53) and Cheteshwar Pujara (34) giving them a steady start. The middle order failed to capitalise on the decent start as they slid to 231 all out in 123.5 overs giving Maharashtra a 201-run lead.

The hosts followed on and their second essay was similar to the first. The Maharashtra bowlers had the top order back in the pavilion in the 30th over as the hosts collapsed to 51 for six. Only a gritty innings by Alkesh Jadav helped them to salvage a draw. Jadav returned unbeaten on 57 off 160 balls with nine boundaries. Ruben Dahad, Ajinkya Joshi and Nikhil Munde all chipped in with two wickets each. Saurashtra ended the day on 123 for nine off 70 overs earning a draw.

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