Plate-A and Elite-B teams started their hunt for the Duleep Trophy title collecting five points each from their drawn encounters against Elite-A and Plate-B in the first round-robin league matches at Chennai Saturday.
With the trophy being played on a new format on the lines of Ranji Trophy, rival captains felt the duration of matches should be extended to five days as it is difficult to get a result in four days.
Both the matches ended in tame draws and teams shared points with the team getting the first innings lead getting five points and the other three.
In the match between Elite-B and Plate-B batsmen ruled the roost with opener Amit Pagnis hogging the limelight with a superb 184 to help Elite-B to amass 434 all out in their second innings. Leggie N Hirwani remained the top wicket taker with 4 for 129 to complete a match haul of 10 for 209.
In the other match, Plate-A (overnight 120 for 6) posted a 435-run target in 37 overs for Elite-A, who were 102 for 3 when play was called off in the 8th mandatory over.
Earlier, Plate-A batsmen Tilak Naidu (83), Sunil Joshi (66) and Doda Ganesh (68) chipped in with valuable contributions while Elite-A medium pacer Irfan Pathan (Jr) claimed four wickets to take his match tally to 9 for 194.
