Retiring Gambhir 92* on Day 2
WITH HITEN DALAL (58), GAMBHIR ADDED 108 FOR THE FIRST WICKET AND THEN CONTINUED FLOW IN THE COMPANY OF DHRUV SHOREY
With a small group of fans and his family — wife and daughters, egging him on from the sidelines and an artist outside the boundary rope painting his knock on the canvas, Gautam Gambhir turned on his vintage self in his farewell game as he made an unbeaten 92 to help Delhi move to 190 for one in reply to Andhra’s 390 in first innings at the end of the second day’s play on Friday.
The former India captain and opener, who looks set to get his 43rd first-class century on Saturday morning, started in blistering fashion, like in the previous innings here, with the pressure of future out of his way.
He timed a couple of boundaries towards the leg-side and unleashed one through covers, moving to 24 off just 17 deliveries.
The left-hander then struggled a bit against the spinners, getting dropped on a couple of occasions, but made the most of the chances to take his side towards a position of strength from where they can control this game.
Together with Hiten Dalal (58), Gambhir added 108 for the first wicket and then continued the flow in the company of Dhruv Shorey, who was unbeaten on 39.
Towards the end as he neared his century, Gambhir again brought about a couple of boundaries with every shot of his, even a single, being cheered on.
Earlier, former India U-19 player Ricky Bhui’s 187 and some valuable contributions from the lower order took Andhra to 390 in the first innings.
TN EDGE AHEAD
PTI adds from Chennai: Tamil Nadu gained the upper hand on Friday, reducing Kerala to 151 for 9 after making 268 in the first innings on the second day.
The home team bowlers came to the fore, striking at regular intervals to leave Kerala 117 runs behind with one wicket standing.
Left-arm medium-pacer T Natarajan and left-arm spinner Rahil Shah, with three wickets each, did most of the damage while R Sai Kishore took two wickets.
Earlier, debutant M Shahrukh Khan (92*) missed out on a ton as the hosts collapsed from 249 for 6 to 268 all out.