Rana, Unmukt help Delhi upstage UP; Shami’s fifer can’t deliver win
RANJI TROPHY Delhi take full points with 6wkt win; India pacer’s spell not enough for Bengal vs HP NEWDELHI: KOLKATA:
Nitish Rana scored 67 while Unmukt Chand made 49 as Delhi came from behind to beat Uttar Pradesh in a Ranji Trophy encounter at the Air Force ground at Palam to bag six points. Having conceded a lead of 22 runs, Delhi dismissed UP for 229 in the second innings and had to chase a target of 252 which wasn’t going to be easy.
They lost seasoned batsman Gautam Gambhir early, with the team score on six. However, Unmukt and Rana added 71 for the third wicket to bring stability to the Delhi innings. There were important contributions from Rishabh Pant (26) and Milind Kumar (48*) as Delhi went past the target with four wickets to spare.
At one stage Delhi were 231 for six. However, Navdeep Saini hammered 20 off 12 balls with one six and three fours to lead Delhi past the finish line.
DHAWAN RESISTS
Rishi Dhawan’s fine allround show upstaged Mohammed Shami’s five-wicket haul and enabled Himachal Pradesh to stop hosts Bengal from logging home full points.
Having conceded a huge 213run lead, Himachal gave a much better account of themselves scoring 353 in the second innings with contributions from Priyanshu Khanudri (95), Prashant Chopra (81), Nikhil Gangta (57) and Dhawan (51 not out).
Mohammed Shami (5/109) and Ashok Dinda (3/74) picked wickets but Dhawan played 90 balls and more importantly had a ninth wicket stand of 39 with Sidharth Sharma (1) which consumed an hour and half’s play.
A target of 141 in the final session under fading light was next to impossible and Dhawan’s four-wicket burst ensured that captains decided to end the game