The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Ishant, Suhail bowl Delhi to big win

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Saturday, Feb 11, 2006

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Sport - Cricket

Ishant, Suhail bowl Delhi to big win

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: An encouraging debut by medium-pacer Ishant Sharma and off-spinner Suhail Sharma marked Delhi's 10-wicket victory over Jammu and Kashmir in the North Zone one-day league match at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Friday.

In other encounters, Punjab registered an eight-wicket win over Haryana at the Harbaksh Singh Stadium while Himachal Pradesh overcame Services by 45 runs at the Palam ground.

Delhi and Himachal Pradesh gained five points each, including a bonus point, while Punjab earned four.

Due to fog, the matches at Palam ground and Harbaksh Stadium were reduced to 40 overs and 43 overs respectively.

The six-feet-four-inch Ishant, with a run up and follow-through that reflect his excellent grooming as a fast bowler, scalped four batsmen with his accuracy as J&K, put in, collapsed after a bright start when Arshad Bhatt and Fayaz Nazari put on 46 for the opening wicket.

Right line

Ishant impressed with his sensible bowling as he made the batsmen play and concentrated on a tight line when skipper Mithun Manhas tossed the ball to him for the 11th over.

Ishant responded by removing the openers in his very first over and later added the wickets of Mayank Goswami and Shashi Kumar to his tally.

For Suhail, ignored by the selectors for the last two seasons, it was a fruitful outing as he claimed the wickets of Sameer Khaturia, Shafqat Baba and Abid Nabi.

It was indeed a day of the youngsters at the Kotla as Shikhar Dhawan blasted an unbeaten 55 off 46 balls with 10 fours to hasten J&K's end in the company of senior partner Aakash Chopra (43, 50b, 6x4).

Ravneet Ricky slammed a brilliant 80 off 96 balls, while skipper Dinesh Mongia produced an all-round show (43 not out with five fours and three for 27) to steer Punjab to a comfortable victory.

Bhatia bowls well

At the Palam ground, Sangram Singh cracked 93 off 115 balls with eight fours to enable Himachal Pradesh stifle Services.

Sandeep Sharma (59, 62b, 9x4) and left-arm spinner Vishal Bhatia (four for 29) also excelled for Himachal Pradesh.

The scores:

J&K 106 in 35.4 overs (Ishant Sharma four for 34) lost to Delhi 109 for no loss in 15.4 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 55 not out, Aakash Chopra 43 not out).

Haryana 196 for nine in 43 overs (Shafiq Khan 45) lost to Punjab 199 for two in 40.1 overs (Ravneet Ricky 80, Dinesh Mongia 43 not out, Sonny Sohel 40).

Himachal Pradesh 213 for eight in 40 overs (Sangram Singh 93, Sandeep Sharma 59) beat Services 168 for nine in 40 overs (Yashpal Singh 56, Vishal Bhatia four for 29).

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