The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Delhi on verge of emphatic victory

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Wednesday, Nov 07, 2007
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Delhi on verge of emphatic victory

Special Correspondent

CRICKET / Rajasthan crumbles after initial resistance

— Photo: S. Subramanium

SWEET MOMENT: P. Sangwan of Delhi celebrates with teammate Akash Chopra after getting his second wicket in Rajasthan’s second innings.

NEW DELHI: How a casual shot can alter the course of a contest was evident in Gagan Khoda’s on-drive that triggered a Rajasthan collapse and put Delhi on the verge of an emphatic victory at the end of the third day of the Ranji Trophy Elite group match at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Tuesday.

Resuming at 317 for four, Delhi was all out for 387, setting Rajasthan a target of 422 runs. The visiting side, finishing the day at 186 for seven, coped with the challenge for some time despite losing Vineet Saxena in the opening over by Pradeep Sangwan.

Fight

There was the promise of a fight by Khoda and Abhijeet Sharma, joined later by a determined Robin Bisht, but Delhi managed to gain the upper hand before close.

Khoda was in excellent touch. His drives carried a lot of punch and he was enjoying his stint in the middle, as seen in the 12 sweetly-timed boundaries, but his shot selection went awry at a crucial stage.

For a seasoned campaigner, Khoda made the mistake of playing a shot off the first ball he faced from leg-spinner Chetnya Nanda. Khoda did rue the shot (at 116 for two) as it triggered off a collapse that left Delhi in a position of absolute strength.

Motivated by the early success, Nanda snared two more batsmen even as Bisht, who played junior grade cricket for Delhi, presented a dour bat, growing in confidence but failing to arrest the slide.

Bisht remained unbeaten on 50 (105b, 8x4) and was left stranded as Shafiq Khan and Rahul Kanwat perished cheaply.

When Rohit Jhalani was scalped by Nanda, Rajasthan was in danger of losing the match with a day to spare but resistance from the tailenders saw the contest spill into the final day.

The morning session belonged to the Rajasthan seamers — Panjkaj Singh and Shailendra Gehlot. Mithun Manhas, 86 overnight, duly completed his 14th first-class century before he played on.

Rajat Bhatia missed his seventh first-class century when he played away from the body. Mayank Tehlan failed for the second time in the match, again to a poor shot.

Pankaj Singh finished with his second five-wicket haul of the match, while Gehlot picked up four with an improved line.

The scores:

Delhi _ 1st innings: 119.

Rajasthan _ 1st innings: 85.

Delhi _ 2nd innings: A. Chopra lbw b Mathur 32, S. Dhawan c Shafiq Khan b Pankaj Singh 14, P. Bisht c Jhalani b Pankaj Singh 0, V. Kohli b Gehlot 106, M. Manhas b Pankaj Singh 100, R. Bhatia c Jhalani b Gehlot 83, M. Tehlan c Jhalani b Pankaj Singh 9, C. Nanda lbw b Gehlot 1, P. Sangwan lbw b Gehlot 14, Kunal Lal c sub (N.S. Doru) b Pankaj Singh 9, A. Bhandari (not out) 0; Extras (b-4, lb-6, w-1, nb-8): 19. Total (in 109.5 overs) 387.

Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-24, 3-102, 4-194, 5-332, 6-342, 7-355, 8-372, 9-379.

Rajasthan bowling: Pankaj 30.5-9-110-5, Gehlot 30-5-97-4, Aslam 15-1-65-0, Mathur 21-7-62-1, Kanwat 10-0-34-0, Khoda 3-0-9-0.

Rajasthan — 2nd innings: V.A. Saxena lbw b Sangwan 0, G. Khoda c Dhawan b Nanda 71, A.P.K. Sharma lbw b Sangwan 26, R. Bist (batting) 50, Shafiq Khan c Kunal Lal b Bhandari 3, R.J. Kanwat c Kohli b Bhandari 0, R.B. Jhalani b Nanda 3, Pankaj Singh lbw b Nanda 19, S.G. Gehlot (batting) 10; Extras (lb-2, nb-4): 6. Total (for seven wickets in 61 overs) 188.

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-69, 3-116, 4-123, 5-123, 6-146, 7-174.

Delhi bowling: Sangwan 14-4-37-2, Bhandari 10-3-17-2, Bhatia 7-2-19-0, Lall 11-1-46-0, Nanda 16-5-61-3, Manhas 3-0-6-0.

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