Shorey hits ton, Delhi set HP 376
NEWDELHI: RANJI TROPHY SCORES: ROUND 2; DAY 3
Dhruv Shorey scored his third first-class century as Delhi set Himachal Pradesh a target of 376 on the third day of their Elite Group B game at the Ferozeshah Kotla on Wednesday. After Delhi declared the second innings at 281/4, pacer Ishant Sharma removed Prashant Chopra early as Himachal ended the day’s play at 44 for one, still 331 runs adrift.
The Delhi No. 3, who was also the top-scorer in the first innings with 88, hit a huge six over long on to get to his century just before tea. His knock included 10 fours and two sixes, one of which was carved over long-off against leg-spinner Prashant Chopra.
The 26-year-old right-hander looked composed, working the toothless Himachal bowling around with ease. He had walked into bat after the dismissal of Hiten Dalal, who had put on 64 with Gautam Gambhir in just over 10 overs as Delhi looked to score fast.
Gambhir made 49 off 52 balls with seven fours and a six. Shorey got valuable support from current skipper Nitish Rana (32), Himmat Singh (26) and young wicketkeeper-batsman Anuj Rawat (21*) as Delhi declared at tea. The decision to declare by Delhi coach Mithun Manhas was taken primarily to give his bowlers over 100 overs to have a crack at the Himachal batting that had frustrated them in the first innings with the last four wickets playing out 42 overs.
It was always going to be tough going for Himachal and they got an early jolt when Australia-bound Ishant produced a beauty that sneaked past the
defensive prod from Chopra and rattled the off-stump.
MUKUND’S TON LEADS TAMIL NADU REPLY
Abhinav Mukund led Tamil Nadu’s riposte to Hyderabad’s massive first innings total of 565 for 8 declared with a superb ton (101 batting) as the host reached 163 for 2 at stumps in their Elite Group ‘B’ match.
Hyderabad skipper P Akshath Reddy could add only two runs to his overnight score of 248 and the team declared at 565 after C V Milind (33 not out) and Mehdi Hasan (14 not out) put on 27 runs At Delhi: Delhi 317 & 281/4 dec in 67 ovs (D Shorey 106, G Gambhir 49) v Himachal Pradesh 223 all out in 64.3 ovs & 44/1 in 19 ovs.
At Tirunelveli: Hyderabad 565/8 dec in 186 ovs (A Reddy 250, Saaketh 42) v Tamil Nadu 163/2 in 79 ovs (A Mukund 101*)
for the ninth wicket.
Tamil Nadu skipper B Indrajith used eight bowlers in the innings as the visiting batsmen piled on their misery on a flat wicket. Left-handed opener Mukund looked in fine form, striking the ball all round the wicket. He and fellow opener M Kaushik Gandhi (21 off 117 balls, 1X4) put on 80 runs to set the platform for Tamil Nadu.
BCCI TO RELOOK AT UMPIRES’ POSTING
Considering the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB)’s plea to appoint higher-ranked At Porvorim: Goa 468/9 dec (S Kauthankar 130*, S Amonkar 73, S Kamat 57, IK Pathan 3/69) v J&K 246/7 (S Khajuria 53, I Pathan 42*). At Jaipur: Services 228 & 264 all out in 81.4 ovs (R Gahlaut 107). Rajasthan 136 & 95/0 in 45 ovs
umpires for Ranji Trophy games, the BCCI has decided to “relook” into the matter, sources close to the board said. The CAB had said, in a letter, that the BCCI has deputed lower-ranked umpires for the Ranji Trophy and other domestic meets. In its reply, the BCCI has assured CAB joint secretary Avishek Dalmiya that the issue will be looked into.
“We will definitely relook at the match allocations to ensure that top eight ranked umpires from Group C, no matter which association they belong to, are posted for Ranji matches,” said the mail from BCCI.
TIRUNELVELI: KOLKATA: