Tribune News Service
New Delhi, December 27
As one of the longest serving allrounders for the Delhi team, Rajat Bhatia knows the conditions at the Arun Jaitley Stadium better than most. Bhatia, who played 112 First-Class matches, said that the bowlers who know the art of prizing away wickets are the likeliest to find success at the ground.
Sandeep Warrier and L Vignesh were the kind of bowlers Bhatia must have been hinting at while talking to the reporters during his break from commentary duties. A change in strategy from the pace duo helped Tamil Nadu restrict Delhi to 212/6 on
Day 1 of their Ranji Trophy Group B match here today.
Vignesh rocked Delhi early, striking in the third over of the game with wickets of opener Anuj Rawat and skipper Yash Dhull (0). However, the going got tough for the bowlers as the sun came out. The in-form Dhruv Shorey, who had made two centuries (252* & 150*) in Delhi’s previous match, and Jonty Sidhu steadied the ship. The duo punished the loose deliveries while being circumspect with the swinging deliveries. The pair added 103 runs for the third wicket before Sidhu was dismissed by Warrier. And it was all part of a plan.
“We’ve been doing it in the last few matches as well. From one end we are trying to bowl full and from the other trying to pick up wickets with the short-pitched deliveries,” Warrier said.
Sidhu was the first to fall to this plan. Sidhu, who had earlier hit two sublime short-arm jabs in his knock of 57, could not get his bat out of the way while ducking under a bouncer from Warrier, edging the ball to a diving N Jagadeesan.
Vaibhav Rawal was the next to go after he misjudged a slow bouncer from Warrier, who grabbed a simple catch. Vignesh then returned to dismiss Shorey (67) and Delhi’s batting unravelled. Himmat Singh also failed to convert his start as he was castled by Warrier.
The failure to strike up partnerships hurt the hosts, who now have Lalit Yadav (34 not out) as the last recognised batter left at the crease.
Brief scores: Delhi 212/6 (Shorey 66, Sidhu 57; Vignesh 3/42, Warrier 3/59
Himachal bleed wickets as Dhapola stars
Dehradun: Uttarakhand’s seam bowler Deepak Dhapola breathed fire on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group A match, grabbing eight wickets to bundle out Himachal Pradesh for 49 runs today.
Dhapola, 32, dismissed three players for duck and returned figures of 8/35 off 8.3 overs as Himachal could not weather the storm and were dismissed inside 17 overs. At stumps, Uttarakhand were batting on 295/6, having taken a massive 246-run first-innings lead. Aditya Tare (91 not out) and Abhay Negi (48 not out) batted with confidence. Dhapola’s feat did not miss the attention of BCCI secretary Jay Shah, who termed it as one of the finest bowling performances of the tournament. “Ranji Trophy has time and again helped bring out raw home-grown talent onto the forefront. This time it’s Deepak Dhapola! Long way to go!” tweeted Shah.
Brief scores: Himachal 49 in 16.3 overs (Dhapola 8/35) vs Uttarakhand 295/6 in 65 overs (Tare 91*, Negi 48*; Dhawan 3/52); Haryana 306/5 in 90 overs (Sindhu 142*, Sharma 55) vs Odisha; Punjab 62/1 in 17 overs (Prabhsimran 41*; Sarkar 1/17) vs Tripura; Chandigarh 247/7 in 90 overs (Lather 68*, Arslan 56; Patel 4/77) vs Gujarat; J&K 191 all out in 68 overs (Ajaz 41, Raina 30; Thakur 4/40) vs Vidarbha 58/2 in 21.1 overs (Taide 24; Mushtaq 1/2).
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