Dinda fires for Bengal, Sidhu saves Delhi’s day
KOLKATA: At 73/5 and with Ashoke Dinda spewing fire, Bengal had Delhi on the hop before lunch but Jonty Sidhu (85 – 165b, 4x11) forged two partnerships to help the visitors end the first innings on 240 on Day 1 of this Elite Group B Ranji Trophy match at Eden Gardens on Sunday.
It is a score that would give Delhi --- depleted by the injuryinduced absence of bowlers Navdeep Saini and Vikas Mishra and key batsman Dhruv Shorey --- hope, something they didn’t have much of all morning dealing with Dinda’s outswingers which were mixed with deliveries that nipped back off the wicket. Dinda’s first spell read 9-3-21-3. He finished with 4/62, his third four-for this term.
“It is only fair that the team demands more from me because of my experience. The fast bowlers used the conditions well in the morning after which the wicket eased up and there was nothing for the spinners,” said Dinda, who will be 35 in March.
Dinda made Kunal Chandela pay for lack of footwork, had Anuj Rawat leg-before when he tried to play across the line and scuppered Delhi’s attempt to counter-punch by inducing an edge off Hiten Dalal (23) with one that the opener could have left.
Skipper Nitish Rana (21 – 17b, 4x5) fell to a poor shot in off-spinner Aamir Gani’s first over so, at 4/62, Sidhu walked into a crisis. It was exacerbated when Mukesh Kumar got Himmat Singh caught behind, reducing Delhi to 73/5. Sidhu and Shivam Sharma resurrected Delhi with a 96-run stand for the sixth wicket. The partnership was broken when Sharma (42 – 114b, 4x5) was caught off a Manoj Tiwary full toss. Off-spinner Writtick Chatterjee dismissed Sidhu with one that sped through his defence.