Assam Ranji captain Jagadeesh Arunkumar, who topscored for the side against Madhya Pradesh. Picture by Eastern Projections.

Dibrugarh, Dec. 20: Assam continued with their unbeaten run in the Ranji Trophy Plate Group-A league tournament, clinching two points by virtue of a first-innings lead against Madhya Pradesh in a match that ended in a draw at the Dibrugarh DSA stadium here today.

Assam now lead the group tally with 14 points, followed by Railways with 12 and Vidarbha with 11 points. Earlier, Assam clinched five points each through innings victories against Goa and Kerala and two points from a first-innings lead against Railways.

Set a target of 252 runs in the second innings after lunch today, the visitors were at 135 for six after playing three mandatory overs when the match was called off due to poor light.

Assam, resuming at an overnight score of 123 for four, had declared their second innings at 213 for seven at lunch. In reply to Assam’s first-innings total of 181, Madhya Pradesh were all out for 143 in the first innings yesterday.

Faced with the spin tandem of Arlen Konwar and Karnataka professional Anand Katti operating from either end on a turning track, the Madhya Pradesh batsmen were forced to adopt a defensive strategy midway into the second innings after a middle order collapse. Openers Amit Pal and Mudassar Pasha started on a positive note, sharing a 52-run partnership before Pasha (33, 4x4) was trapped leg before wicket by Katti.

After the hard-earned breakthrough, Konwar notched two quick wickets of Monish Mishra and Devender Bundela. Mishra was out for a duck caught by Vasanth Saravanan at square leg, while Bundela (8) was caught by skipper Jagadeesh Arunkumar at forward short leg.

Debutant Pal was the next to go, a single run short of a half-century, when he was caught by Parag Das at first slip off Katti. Pal hammered six hits to the ropes en route to his 49.

Skipper S. Abbas Ali stepped in to play a captain’s knock of an unbeaten 35 runs. However, the experienced Assam skipper made the right move at the right time to put pressure on the batsmen. He pulled in his men to field close to Konwar’s turners to dismiss Murtaza Ali (3) and Jalaj Saxena (1). Ali was bowled while Saxena was caught by Nishanta Bordoloi.

Earlier today, Assam lost Arunkumar for 63, wicketkeeper-batsman Kunal Saikia for 16 and Abu Naschim Ahmed for five. Nishanta Bordoloi remained unbeaten on 52, hitting four boundaries.