Still 69 short, Delhi stare at big loss vs Punjab
Delhi were staring down the barrel in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B game against Punjab at their bastion, Ferozeshah Kotla. After having conceded a lead of 165 in first innings, the hosts were struggling at 106/6, still 69 runs adrift.
After captain Mandeep Singh’s 90 and his 70-run partnership with Yuvraj Singh (24 off 88 balls) had guided Punjab to 282, much rested on Gautam Gambhir to pull Delhi out of the mire. The former India and Delhi skipper started aggressively, hitting a boundary off the first ball and following it up with a six, which might have led to his dismissal had the fielder not dropped it and parried it over the boundary rope.
Cashing in on that chance, Gambhir put on 72 for the first wicket with Hiten Dalal and it seemed Delhi were willing to show resistance. However, leftarm spinner Vinay Choudhary struck two quick blows, removing Dalal and batsman Dhruv Shorey, before things began to mess up.
Siddarth Kaul, who was high on confidence after the six-for in the first innings, worked out Nitish Rana and Gambhir by peppering them with sharp, shortpitched deliveries and keeping fielders for the hook shot. Both fell trying to hook. While Rana (10 off 40) was caught at short fine leg, Gambhir (60 off 95, 6x4, 1x6) was scalped by the keeper soon after. Tempers flared as Rana’s dismissal brought about a war of words between a frustrated Delhi skipper and Kaul.
This could be Delhi’s first loss in five seasons at the Ferozeshah Kotla.
RAJASTHAN REDUCE UP TO 146/7
Rajasthan pacers rose to the occasion and put up a spirited performance as they reduced Uttar Pradesh to 146/7 on the second day of their Elite Group C Ranji Trophy game here.
In search of their fourth win on the trot, Aniket Choudhary (4-34) and Tanvir Mashrat Ul-Haq (3-39) wreaked havoc on the Uttar Pradesh batsmen as wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals. Choudhary, a left-arm medium pacer, ran through the UP top-order as the hosts were reduced to 36-4 at one time. Suresh Raina (33) and Rinku Singh then tried to steady the ship as they helped their side pass the 100-run mark. Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala 63 & 38/4 in 12 overs (K Sen 2/11, Avesh Khan 2/10) vs Madhya Pradesh 328 all out in 128 overs (Y Dubey 79, N Ojha 79, R Patidar 73, J Saxena 4/120) Chennai: Tamil Nadu 263 all out in 106 overs (B Aparajith 103, Kaushik 51, I Porel 5/48, P Pramanik 3/82) vs Bengal 189 all out in 63.5 overs (AK Raman 98, R Shah 5/46, M Mohammed 4/39) Rasool 53*, DG Pathania 3/24) vs Services 252 all out in 91.4 overs (A Gupta 59, NK Singh 58, P Rasool 8/85)
Kanpur: Rajasthan 311 all out in 112.4 overs (R Bisht 96, AV Gautam 93, A Rajpoot 5/61) vs Uttar Pradesh 146/7 in 43 overs (S Raina 33, A Choudhary 4/34, TM Haq 3/39)
NEW DELHI: KANPUR: