Hosts Delhi 60 runs away from an emphatic victory
New Delhi, Dec. 27: Ishant Sharma was a picture of commitment while leading the injury-ridden Delhi attack with an eight-wicket match haul to all but ensure an outright victory against Hyderabad on the third day of the Ranji Trophy group A encounter here on Friday.
Having dismissed Hyderabad for 69 in the first innings, Delhi were handicapped by Pawan Suyal’s injury but that didn’t deter Ishant from sending down 19 overs, grabbing 4 for 89 in the visitors’ total score of 298. Ishant finished with a match-haul of 8 for 108 in 29 overs. It was opener and captain Tanmay Agarwal (103 off 154 balls), who was primarily responsible for thwarting Delhi's bid for an innings victory along with some rearguard action from Tanay Thyagrajan
(34) and Mehedy Hasan (71). Tanmay and Tanay shared a 93run stand after Hyderabad were reduced to 97 for 6. Needing 84 to win, Delhi were 24 for no loss in the second innings and are just 60 runs away from full points. If they win by 10 wickets, the team will also walk away with a
bonus point.
Andhra fight to avoid follow-on
Bengal speedster Ishan Porel blew away the Andhra middle-order with his triple strike as Andhra were reduced to 110 for 7 on the third day of the Ranji Trophy Group ‘A’ encounter. Only 46 overs of play was possible on the day due which has effectively robbed Bengal a chance to get an outright win with a day left. Bengal were all-out for 289 in their first innings and Andhra need to score another 30 to avoid follow-on. On a breezy winter morning, Andhra had their backs to the wall with Porel dismissing skipper Hanuma Vihari and in-form Ricky Bhui off successive deliveries to finish the day with 3/35. —