Williams props Vadodara
Sandeep Dwivedi

RAJKOT, JANUARY 12: The story of Vadodara's batting display of 313 for four on Day Three of the West Zone Ranji Trophy match on Wednesday was so similar to that of their rivals that it could raise doubts of plagiarism. The script that helped hosts Saurashtra score 437 in their first innings was re-enacted.

The opening act by Connor Williams (159 not out) and R Swaroop (88) matched Tuesday's lead pair of Prakash Bhatt (158) and Vasant Kumar (84) to the hilt. The final lines expected from them -- score a further 124 runs with six wickets in hand.

Scoreboard

Saurashtra (1st innings): 437

Vadodara (1st innings, overnight 59-0): Connor Williams batting 159 (458m, 355b, 22x4); R Swaroop run out (Kamal Chavda) 88 (264m, 200b, 8x4); Satyajit Parab lbw Niraj Odedra 20 (81m, 63b, 1x4); Nayan Mongia b Niraj Odedra 3 (25m, 19b); Tushar Arothe c Manoj Parmar b Firoz Bambhania 27 (82M, 48B, 4X4). Extras (5b, 1lb, 6nb, 4w): 16
Total: 313/4 in 113.1 overs and 458 minutes.
Fall of wickets: 1-180 (Swaroop), 2-227 (Parab), 3-243 (Mongia), 4-313 (Arothe).
Bowling: Chavda 11-1-55-0 (4nb); Merchant 2-0-15-0 (2nb); Dhruv 30-4-86-0; Odedra 39-13-83-2 (4w); Chudasama 27-4-58-0; Bambhania 4.1-1-10-1.

Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.