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Gujarat sitting pretty

Special Correspondent

VALSAD: Gujarat skipper Parthiv Patel used strike bowlers Siddharth Trivedi (three for 52) and Mohnish Parmar (four for 104) to trip Delhi in the race for first innings lead.

The visitor stumbled 36 runs short of Gujarat’s first innings score of 350, bowled out for 314 on an action-packed third day at the Sardar Patel Stadium. The home team openers, Priyank Panchal and Nilesh Modi, then continued the good show, scoring 76 for no loss in the second innings stretching the lead to 112 in the Ranji Trophy super league Group ‘A’ fourth round tie.

The bottom half of Delhi’s batting order had displayed fighting qualities earlier in the day to create anxiety in the home team camp.

Plucky effort

Yogesh Nagar, at No. 7, emerged the top-scorer (79), while Sumit Narwal, at No. 8, stroked a confident 48. This overnight pair put up a bold show against Gujarat seamers in the critical first session.

Nagar’s half-century was marked by risk-free front-foot play against Trivedi and Ashraf Makda, resisting the temptation of playing at balls pitched outside the off-stump. Trivedi won a leg-before appeal from umpire Sameer Bandekar against Narwal two overs before lunch, after the seventh wicket stand of 108 had stretched the Delhi fightback to 270.

Nagar went 23 runs later, Trivedi’s shout for a catch behind the wicket upheld by Bandekar when the batsmen appeared to have missed the line and connected thin air.

Delhi protests

The Delhi Ranji Trophy team expressed displeasure about umpire Sameer Bandekar’s performance to match referee Sunil Gudge after the third day’s play in the super league Group ‘A’ fourth round tie against Gujarat.

An official protest will also be filed by the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association with the BCCI about the umpiring decision which cost top-scorer Yogesh Nagar his wicket in the Delhi first innings, according to DDCA Sports Secretary, Sunil Dev, on Tuesday.

Bandekar upheld wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel’s appeal for a catch off Siddharth Trivedi, reducing Delhi to 293 for eight and taking the wind out of the visiting team’s attempt to overhaul Gujarat’s total of 350 for the vital first innings lead.

The scores:

Gujarat — 1st innings: 350.

Delhi — 1st innings: P. Bisht c Thakker b Parmar 28, S. Dhawan c Parthiv b Trivedi 0, A. Chopra c Parthiv b Makda 19, M. Manhas c Sunny b Choudhary 11, G. Chhabra lbw b Makda 63, M. Tehlan c Panchal b Parmar 17, Y. Nagar c Parthiv b Trivedi 79, S. Narwal lbw b Trivedi 48, C. Nanda (not out) 25, P. Sangwan b Parmar 2, P. Awana c Sunny b Parmar 1; Extras (b-12, lb-7, nb-2) 21. Total (in 131.5 overs): 314.

Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-38, 3-59, 4-63, 5-106, 6-162, 7-270, 8-293, 9-302.

Gujarat bowling: Trivedi 32-10-52-3, Makda 27-13-34-2, Choudhary 17-4-59-1, Parmar 40.5-12-104-4, T. Patel 12-2-38-0, S. Patel 3-0-8-0.

Gujarat — 2nd innings: P. Panchal (batting) 42, N. Modi (batting) 26; Extras (b-4, lb-2, nb-2) 8. Total (for no loss in 31 overs): 76.

Delhi bowling: Narwal 8-2-11-0, Sangwan 7-0-22-0, Nanda 4-0-15-0, Manhas 6-2-7-0, Awana 6-2-15-0.

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