But Saurashtra skipper Sitanshu Kotak was not by any chance euphoric. With the battle for the lone qualifying spot in the West Zone going to be decided by quotient, Saurashtra was on looking for a huge victory margin against the whipping boys of the zone. And a 35-run was certainly not big by any standards. It's been spring all season for Sitanshu Kotak and he flowered once again here. His 87 here took his total aggregate this season to 714 from nine innings. After Sudhir Tanna left early falling to first change Mihir Sheth's first ball after scoring 12, Kotak dropped the anchor.

SCOREBOARD

Saurashtra: Sudhir Tanna c Parmar b Sheth 12 (23b, 38m), Sitanshu Kotak run out (Bhavin Mehta) 87(114b, 196m, 6x4), Altaf Merchant c Parikh b Sheth 21 (30b, 44m, 2x4), Prakash Bhatt c Mehta b Hiren Patel 36 (50b, 63m, 1x4), Hitesh Parsana c Kotecha b Parmar 12 (11b, 9m, 1x4), Manoj Parmar c Mehta b Hiren Patel 38 (26b, 21m, 4x4, 1x6), Pratik Mehta c Kotecha b Hiren Patel 22 (15b, 17m, 1x6, 1x4), Narendra Rana c Mehta b Vivek Patel 6 (6b, 8m, 1x4), Bimal Jadeja not out 6 (11m, 8b), Niraj Odedra c Kotecha b Bhavik Patel 1 (4b, 4m), Rajesh Garsondia c Pathik Patel b Vivek Patel 1 (3b, 2m); Extras: 20 (5lb, 11w, 4nb). Total: (all out in 47.4 overs) 262.

Fall Of Wickets: 1-34, 2-75, 3-138, 4-164, 5-216, 6-232, 7-252, 8-253, 9-260

Bowling: Bhavik Patel 7-0-33-1 (5w, 1nb), Parikh 9.4-0-38-2 (1w), Sheth 6-0-29-2 (5w, 2nb), Mehta 10-0-54-0, Parmar 5-0-29-1, Hiren Patel 10-0-74-3 (1nb).

Gujarat: Amrish Kotecha b Odedra 36 (44b, 79m, 5x4), Vipul Patel run out (Altaf Merchant) 0 (1m), Mihir Sheth c Merchant b Garsondia 10 (35b, 45m, 1x4), Mukund Parmar c Bhatt b Odedra 7 (24b, 45m),Kirat Damani c Mehta b Odedra 52 (58b, 73m, 5x4), Keyur Padia run out (Rana) 9 (24b, 25m), Bhavin Mehta c Jadeja b Kotak 45 (50b, 45m, 3x4), Pathik Patel not out 21 (30b, 45m), Hiren Patel c Bhatt b Parsana 12 (12b, 5m), Vivek Parikh c Merchant b Parsana 9 (13b, 12m); Bhavik Patel b Garsondia 9 (10m, 9b, 1x6); Extras: 17 (1b, 8lb, 8w). Total: (all out in 49.5 overs) 227.

Fall Of Wickets: 1-0, 2-40, 3-58, 4-76, 5-104, 6-157, 7-179, 8-192, 9-212

Bowling: Garsondia 7.5-1-27-2 (2w), Rana 7-1-26-0 (2w), Odedra 10-1-43-3 (4w), Mehta 5-0-25-0, Kotak 10-0-51-1, Parsana 10-0-46-2.