Mahipal Lomror hit 84 off 170 balls in Rajasthan's second innings; Sai Kishore claimed three wickets in Rajasthan's second innings. (Special Arrangement)On the eve of Rajasthan’s 2026-27 Ranji Trophy home opener against Tamil Nadu (TN), their bowling coach Anup Dave had predicted the game could end in a draw. “An outright win is difficult here (in Jaipur); it’s all about the innings lead usually. There is a history of matches ending in draws as it is a batting-friendly surface and all 40 wickets do not fall in four days.” Four days later, that’s exactly how the match panned out.The hosts added 111 runs to their overnight lead of 170 before declaring, and TN batted out 23 overs without losing a wicket. The teams shook hands after tea, with Rajasthan walking away with three points after gaining an 89-run first-innings lead and Tamil Nadu earning one point from the draw.TN were left to rue their lower-order batting collapse the previous day – the last four wickets fell for 10 runs. Captain Sai Kishore felt it was a “toss-oriented wicket”, in that it only offered spin from Day 3 onwards. But he admitted a lack of application from the last four batters meant they could not take the lead.Rajasthan bossed the Day 4 morning session. In the fourth over, Karthik Sharma lofted Saravana Kumar beautifully over the long-off boundary. Soon, he and Mahipal Lomror began showing urgency with their running between the wickets. Acceleration followed by a declaration seemed to be the mandate.Sai Kishore temporarily foiled the plan by trapping Karthik plumb in front. But Ajay Singh Kukna followed up his Tuesday fifer with some dogged batting at No. 7.His compact defence allowed Mahipal to go for his strokes before lunch. The southpaw swept Washington Sundar for consecutive fours in the last over of the first session. However, the Indian off-spinner had the last laugh in the duel, as Lomror fell to Sundar on 84, while attempting a paddle sweep.Rajasthan declared at 192 for 6, setting TN a stiff 282-run target with less than two sessions of play left.Story continues below this adAs his opposite number Sai Kishore did on Day 3, Manav Suthar bowled with the new ball for Rajasthan, hoping to extract purchase from the North End. The left-arm spinner found turn and bounce straight away, and after a few nervous prods, Sai Sudharsan offered a chance in the fifth over. The opener’s defensive poke went to Sumit Godara at forward short leg, but he grassed it.Sai Sudharsan was lucky again in the ninth over when he miscued a sweep off Suthar. Hemant Kumar, at midwicket, reacted late and could not reach the ball on time. That was the last opportunity Rajasthan had, as Sudharsan and N Jagadeesan took TN to safety.Brief scores: Rajasthan 363 and 192/6 decl. in 70.1 overs (Mahipal Lomror 84; Sai Kishore 3/50) drew with Tamil Nadu 274 and 73/0 in 23 overs (N Jagadeesan 42 not out). Points. Rajasthan: 3, TN: 1Stay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches.Tags:Ranji Trophy