Madhya Pradesh made it to the knockouts of the Ranji Trophy despite their last elite group A match against Kerala ending in a draw here on Sunday.
MP qualified for the quarterfinals on the basis of better quotient of 2.147 than Kerala (1.648) at the end of the group league matches.
MP came into the game on 13 points after beating Gujarat and Meghalaya. Kerala were also on 13 points before the match.
Since, the match ended in a draw and the first innings — of Kerala — was not complete, both the teams got one point each and their tally stood at 14 each.
It thus finally came down to quotient and on that basis, MP made it to the knockouts.
MP had piled up a staggering 585/9 declared in their first essay, as they rode on opener Yash Dubey’s elegant 289.
Resumed the fourth and final day at 198/2, Kerala’s first innings score remained as 432/9 in 153 overs. Their first innings remained unfinished after four days of play.
For Kerala, opener Rahul P (136) and skipper Sachin Baby (114) scored centuries but their efforts were not enough to take their team to the knockouts.
For Madhya Pradesh, experienced pacer Ishwar Chandra Pandey (3/78) and Anubhav Agarwal (3/58) picked three tickets each.
A Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) official also confirmed to PTI that their team has topped the group on the basis of quotient and credited coach Chandrakant Pandit for his strategy. Meanwhile, in another elite group A game, Gujarat thrashed minnows Meghalaya by an innings and 139 runs. It was a consolation win for Gujarat as they were already out of the reckoning.
Brief Scores: Madhya Pradesh: 585/9 declared (Yash Dubey 289, Rajat Patidar 142; Jalaj Saxena 6/116, Basil NP 1/85) versus Kerala 432/9 (Rahul P 136; Sachin Baby 114; Anubhav Agarwal 3/58). Match Drawn.
Gujarat: 555/8 declared (Bhargav Merai 223, Het Patel 154; Chirag Khurana 5/151, Dippu 1/37) versus Meghalaya 166 and 250 (DB Ravi Teja 133; Punit Bisht 68; Arzan Nagwaswalla 4/70, Parth Vaghani 2/44). Gujarat won by an innings and 139 runs
