Dropped catches deprived Dehi an outright win as Baroda, thanks to opener Connor Williams' 106, held on for a draw in the Ranji Trophy Super League Group 'A' cricket match here at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground on Tuesday.
Having conceded a first innings lead of 249, Baroda, resuming at 35 for no loss, finished at 253 for seven with wicket-keeper Pinal Shah remaining unbeaten on a resilient 30 at stumps on the fourth and final day.
Considering the nature of the wicket and the quality of Baroda batting, it was always going to be difficult for Delhi to force a result on the final day. But they did not help their cause with three dropped catches at crucial stages.
Williams held the Baroda innings with a timely century that had 14 boundaries.
However, the seasoned campaigner lived a charmed life, being dropped twice, on 41 and 53, off Ishant Sharma in the morning session.
Given the match situation, where time was a major factor and not runs, Williams' innings that consumed 400 minutes turned out to be the match-saving knock for Baroda.
After losing skipper Jacob Martin at the stroke of lunch, Williams along with middle-order batsmen Ajit Bhoite, who too had a reprieve, thwarted Delhi's victory chances by adding 90 runs for the fourth wicket.
Continuing to impress with each outing, promising youngster Ishant Sharma along with new-ball partner, Ashish Nehra strived hard and were quiet disciplined in their workouts, claiming two wickets each.
However, the absence of a quality spinner to back up the efforts of the pacers were clearly felt by Delhi, for whom off-spinner Yogesh Sachdeva's inclusion is highly questionable.
Delhi, who face Karnataka next at home over the weekend, have improved their tally to six points after three matches while Baroda, remain on nine points.
Scorecard
Baroda (1st innings): 244
Delhi (1st innings): 493
Baroda (2nd innings): (Overnight 35 for no loss)
Rishikesh Parab b Ishant 32
Connor Williams c Bisht b Nehra 106
Rakesh Solanki c Bhatia b Kuunal 6
Jacob Martin c Dhawan b Nehra 7
Ajit Bhoite lbw b Bhatia 33
Pinal Shah not out 30
Ketan Panchal c Dhawan b Ishant 6
Yusuf Pathan lbw b Kuunal 2
Rajesh Pawar not out 0
Extras: (B-10, W-3, NB-18) 31
Total: (For 7 wickets in 99 overs) 253
Fall of wickets: 1-77, 2-92, 3-108, 4-198, 5-224, 6-235, 7-249.
Bowling: Ashish Nehra 30-7-73-2, Ishant Sharma 28-7-69-2, Kuunal Lal 20-5-50-2, Yogesh Sachdeva 5-0-31-0, Mithun Manhas 12-4-18-0, Rajat Bhatia 4-3-2-1.
