Delhi all but out of race for Ranji Trophy knock-outs after losing to Jharkhand
GUWAHATI: Dhruv Shorey’s counter-attacking hundred set up a fitting final hour but old warhorse Shahbaz Nadeem’s second five-wicket haul enabled Jharkhand to oust Delhi from quarterfinal contention with a thrilling 15-run win in the final over of their Ranji Trophy group H encounter here on Sunday.
While Shorey should be credited for his superb 136 off 177 balls that kept Delhi in hunt for a tough score of 335 but they wilted under pressure during the final half an hour when Nadeem (5/83 in 31 overs) and fellow leftarm orthodox spinner Anukul Roy (2/71 in 20.4 overs) brilliantly closed down the run-scoring opportunities.
Delhi skipper Pradeep Sangwan was coolly stumped by debutant wicketkeeper Kumar Kushagra after he failed to get going.
Nadeem’s 10-wicket match haul ensured that Jharkhand, with full six points, stay in contention for a knockout berth when they lock horns with Tamil Nadu (6 points) in their last game. However, both teams will want that Delhi at least stop Chattisgarh (7 points and current group toppers) from going beyond a point.
For Delhi, the tournament is as good as over and only seven points (including a bonus) against Chattisgarh will give them a slim chance in theory.
On the day, Jharkhand skipper Virat Singh declared at 307 for 7 leaving Delhi with a target of 335 in just over two and half sessions. It was Shorey, who attacked Jharkhand new ball bowlers to collect boundaries at will as 60 came in little over 10 overs. The Jharkhand skipper spread the field to stop the flow of boundaries.
Delhi batters ran more than 120 singles, courtesy Shorey, who also had 17 fours and two sixes to his credit. It was a backfoot punch through covers that got him to his second century in as many matches.
He added 60 with Yash Dhull (19), 65 with Himmat Singh (34) for the fourth wicket and another 87 with the stodgy Jonty Sidhu (59) for the fifth wicket.
However, Shorey, while trying to up the ante in the final session, couldn’t time a back-foot pull off a Nadeem delivery as Vikas Vishal took a well judged catch at the wide long-on boundary. Once Shorey was gone, Jonty did well with Lalit Yadav (17) for a brief while before Nadeem tossed one up and the left-hander was stumped for the second time in the game by debutant Kushagra.
Even then, at 289 for six, Delhi, with 46 runs to get, looked in control but Lalit going for a non-existent third run was found short when Kushagra collected one neatly from the deep and threw down the stumps at the non-striker’s end.
Strangely, Sangwan played a lot of dot balls and towards the end it seemed that he was happy with a point when it would have been of little help.
Credit must be given to Nadeem and Anukul for bottling them and also dismissing the tail quickly, while creating a psychological advantage by time wasting tactic that included applying saliva on the ball, a practive currently prohibited due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tamil Nadu stayed in the hunt for a quarter-final berth with a first innings lead against Chattisgarh but they would regret the fact that only three came from the game instead of six despite them enforcing follow-on.
Having scored 470 in the first innings, Tamil Nadu couldn’t get Chattisgarh all out as they ended on 172 for 8, getting a point and maintaining top position in the group with seven points.
It was skipper Harpreet Singh Bhatia (43 not out of 162 balls), who again defied the Tamil Nadu spinners who shared the spoils with left-armers Ravi Srinivasan Sai Kishore and M Siddharth, both of whom got three wickets each. The seasoned Baba Aparajith got two wickets.
Jharkhand 251 and 307/7 decl (Kumar Suraj 131 no, Nazim Siddiqui 110, Nistish Rana 3/47). Delhi 224 and (target 335) 319 all out (Dhruv Shorey 136, JontySidhy 59, Shahbaz Nadeem 5/83). Jharkhand 6; Delhi 0 Tamil Nadu 470. Chattisgarh 304 (Harpreet Bhatia 170 no) and (f/o) 172/8 (Harpreet Bhatia 43 no, R Sai Kishore 3/44, M Siddharth 3/48).