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Selfish show by Delhi batsmen

By Our Special Correspondent

KANPUR NOV. 8. Sarandeep Singh, with a breezy half century, gave Delhi the desired thrust only in the last session after the batsmen had failed to do their job against Uttar Pradesh on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Elite group `A' match at the Green Park here on Saturday.

Resuming at 267 for two, Delhi ought to have dictated the terms but it struggled until Sarandeep dealt with the bowlers in a befitting manner to enable the visiting team compile 478 in its first innings. In six overs, Uttar Pradesh was 19 for no loss.

The Delhi middle order was guilty of putting up a selfish show. The onus was obviously on individual honours and in the process the team lost valuable time as batsman after batsman nudged and prodded to garner runs when the demand was to get after the listless bowlers.

The first session saw Delhi add just 78 runs in 31 overs and another 71 in the second session. This was not the desired strategy set by coach Madan Lal.

The Uttar Pradesh team's body language, sagging shoulders and tiring limbs, surprisingly did not evoke a positive response from the batsmen despite the pitch playing easy.

Skipper Mithun Manhas failed to raise his game and Pradeep Chawla proved a misfit at the number three slot, taking too long to settle down and allowing the bowlers to work out an escape route. His 41 was made off 171 balls and after the openers had laid the foundation with a racy start on Friday.

This was a key phase since Delhi had planned to dominate and give its bowlers the time to snare a couple of wickets but the slow run rate spoilt the show.

Manhas ultimately fell when he tried to force the pace and played a shot away from the body. The much-awaited arrival of Ajay Jadeja in the middle proved uneventful as the former India captain failed to read left-arm spinner Gyanendra Pandey's faster one.

Rajat Bhatia was trapped leg-before and he did not do his reputation good by staying at the wicket. Former State skipper Vijay Dahiya put the team's interests ahead of him and fell in trying to push the rate.

Delhi had wasted the advantage of the rousing opening stand of the first day and Uttar Pradesh welcomed the generosity.

It was left to the enterprising Sarandeep to restore Delhi's position of strength.

In what was the best phase of the day, he played some outstanding strokes to whip an unbeaten 51 off 89 balls with four fours and an on-driven six off off-spinner Lalit Verma.

He ran out of partners as left-arm spinner Praveen Gupta, in his second first-class match, claimed five wickets to check the Delhi onslaught.

The scores:

Delhi 478 (Gautam Gambhir 147, Salil Oberoi 80, Mithun Manhas 56, Sarandeep Singh 51 not out, Pradeep Chawla 41, Praveen Gupta five for 143). Uttar Pradesh 19 for no loss.

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