Maharashtra picked up crucial two points and pushed defending champions Railways to the brink of relegation in the Ranji Trophy Elite Group 'A' match in New Delhi on Friday.

The battle of survival in the Elite Division was won by Maharashtra who improved their tally to six points, leaving Railways languishing at the bottom of the Group with four points.

The vistors, 91 for three overnight, declared their second innings at 230 for nine to set an improbable target of 328 from 43 overs on the last day for the hosts.

Railways, who made a paltry 140 in ther first innings, lost five wickets for 110 runs and time was the only factor that saved them from an ignominuos defeat.

The defending champion will now have to claim maximum points from their last match against Bengal and depend on the results of the other teams to avoid playing in the Plate Division next season.

Earlier, Abhijit Kale scored a strokeful 111 which included 14 boundaries and took the spinners to some task.

Left-arm spinner Madan Yadav's effort (4 for 105) proved a bit costly also for the hosts as he came in for some hard hitting by Kale.

Skipper Sanjay Bangar (3 for 20) cleared the tail but it was very late in the day to bring any hope to the dressing room.

Railways coach Vinod Sharma said his batsmen did not live upto expectations.

"Our batsmen failed to deliver once again. We should have taken the first innings lead after bowling out Maharashtra for 237," said Sharma.

Scorecard:

Maharashtra 2nd innings: (overnight score: 91-3)
D Jadhav st Wankhede b Parida 26
S Satbhai lbw b Jai P Yadav 4
H Kanitkar b MS Yadav 22
A Kale not out 111
S Bahutule lbw b MS Yadav 8
K Aphale c Khanolkar b M Yadav 11
Y Takawale b M Yadav 30
Y Pawar lbw b Bangar 0
S Burkul b Bangar 2
M Patel b Bangar 6
R Jadhav not out 1

Extras (b 5, nb 4) 9

Total (for 9 wickets declared in 94 overs) 230

Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-55, 3-63, 4-100, 5-151, 6-201, 7-205, 8-215, 9-227.

Bowling: Harvinder Singh 14-3-29-0, Jai P Yadav 10-4-14-1, S Bangar 10-3-20-3, M Yadav 38-8-105-4, K Parida 22-5-57-1.

Railways 2nd innings (Target: 328)
S Bangar c Kanitkar b Bahutule 14
A Pagnis lbw b Burkul 0
V Saxena st Satbhai b Bahutule 43
Jai P Yadav c Satbhai b R Jadhav 26
Raja Ali c Kale b R Jadhav 4
S Khanolkar not out 11
Y Goud not out 2

Extras (b 3, nb 7) 10

Total (for 5 wickets in 56 overs) 110

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-42, 3-82, 4-91, 5-98.

Bowling: M Patel 11-2-27-0, S Burkul 8-5-6-1, S Bahutule 20-9-32-2, R Jadhav 17-1-42-2.