Shorey, Dalal save Delhi the blushes on opening day
NEW DELHI: Hiten Dalal scored a brisk 79 on debut before Himachal Pradesh fought back to reduce Delhi to 305 for eight at stumps on day one of a Group B Ranji Trophy match here at the Ferozeshah Kotla on Monday.
Dhruv Shorey (88) too made a significant contribution but missed out on a hundred on a day when some questionable umpiring calls were made.
Gautam Gambhir, who was on 44, vented out his frustration after being caught at short leg off left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar in the 17th over. The replays showed that the ball only hit the pad before Priyanshu Khanduri claimed the catch, ending a 96-run openingwicket partnership between Gambhir and Dalal.
Dalal and Shorey then took the innings forward. Dalal, who had scored a fifty also on his List A debut earlier this year, went for the attack at the slightest of opportunities. He ended up collecting 10 fours and three sixes.
Once Dalal departed, Shorey never really got the support he was looking for with Delhi suffering a middle-order collapse after being 161 for one in the 34th over. Nitish Rana (6) could not do much on his captaincy debut, lasting just 19 balls. Running out of partners, a well-settled Shorey perished while attempting an aerial hit over cover.
Anuj Rawat and Lalit Yadav failed to build on their starts, leaving Delhi in a spot of bother.
Dagar was the pick of the bowlers for Himachal Pradesh, taking three wickets for 57 runs in 21 overs while off-spinner Gurvinder Singh took 2 for 57.
HARYANA OUT FOR 81
ROHTAK: Jharkhand bowlers rose to the occasion and bundled out Haryana for 81. For Jharkhand, pacers Ajay Yadav (4-24) and Rahul Shukla (3-24) wreaked havoc on the opposition batsmen and they were ably supported by former India
speedster Varun Aaron (2-21).
Jharkhand have a slender lead of 39 with their captain Ishan Kishan batting on 23 in company of Anukul Roy (22*).
Meanwhile in Tirunelveli, skipper Akshath Reddy led from the front with an unbeaten 114 to help Hyderabad make 249 for 3.