Lacklustre Delhi draw versus Himachal

NEWDELHI:LACK of ideas and intent in the Delhi camp were exposed as Himachal Pradesh escaped with a draw to deny the hosts full points on the final day of the Elite Group B Ranji Trophy match at the Ferozeshah Kotla.

Himachal, who resumed at 44/1 and were 331 behind, ended the day at 266/5 with Nikhil Gangta (66*) and former India allrounder Rishi Dhawan (52*) adding unbeaten 82 runs for the sixth wicket and consuming close to 30 overs before stumps were drawn.

While Delhi had declared at tea on the third day in the hope of getting over 100 overs to dismiss Himachal, the Ishant Sharma-led attack found the going tough. So much so that both Ishant, who took two wickets, and former captain Gautam Gambhir didn’t bother take the field after tea which was surprising as a wicket could have opened floodgates.

Young captain Nitish Rana kept picking Gambhir’s brains throughout the first two sessions and only injudicious strokes from Himachal batsmen got his side wickets. Delhi’s left-arm spinners Vikas Mishra and Varun Sood not only gave one-dimensional look to the attack, they also failed to trouble the batsmen.

JADEJA FIRES

RAJKOT: Following his 178 not out in first innings and seven wickets, Ravindra Jadeja made vital 48 not out to help Saurashtra win (J Saxena 8/45). Kerala 328 & 43/1 in 13 ovs. Kerala won by 9 wkts. Kerala 6 points, Andhra 0. At Tirunelveli: Hyderabad 565/8 dec. Tamil Nadu 409/4 in 154 ovs (A Mukund 178, N Jagadeesan 131). Match drawn. Hyderabad 1 point, Tamil Nadu 1.