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Delhi’s Ranji side has been in the news since the season began but not always for the right reason. First, Yash Dhull was sacked as captain. Then Ayush Badoni was asked to stay at the hotel room and was replaced by Kshitiz Sharma who managed to score just eight runs in the match. But skipper Himmat Singh willed his team back into the match with a stellar 194. On the final day, Himanshu Chauhan's five-wicket haul with support from spinner Hrithik Shokeen helped them beat Uttarakhand by a narrow margin of seven runs.
On Day 4, Uttarakhand started the day with an overnight score of 95/6 needing 78 runs to win. Early in the first session, Abhay Negi was run out by Dhull for a six-ball duck. Akash Madhwal went on a blockathon whereas Akhil Rawat did all the scoring in the eighth-wicket partnership. They succeeded in the first hour. Madhwal played as many as 48 dot balls. He did not get off the mark and was eventually dismissed by Chauhan who completed his five-wicket haul.
After Madhwal's wicket, Deepak Dhapola supported him. Rawat still played patiently and scored a rare boundary. The partnership was broken by Shokeen. He trapped him in front of the stumps. Rawat played a fighting knock of 63 runs from 185 deliveries including four fours and a six. Dhapola tried to delay the inevitable by keeping the strike to himself but lost his wicket to Arpit Rana just three balls before the new ball was due. He scored three runs from 37 balls. On the other end, Devendra Singh Bora did not face a single delivery. Uttarakhand were bowled out for 165, losing the match by seven runs.
On Day 3 in the run chase, Chauhan got rid of the top order with Shokeen reducing Uttarakhand to 15/4. Swapnil Singh and wicketkeeper-batter Aditya Tare scoring 36 runs each revived the run chase before they were dismissed by Chauhan and Shokeen respectively.
Earlier, Uttarakhand skipper Jiwanjot Singh won the toss and opted to field first. Apart from Dhull's 47, no batter could make a mark. Bora, and Negi picked up three wickets each whereas Dhapola and Madhwal had two scalps each to bowl out Delhi for 147.
In reply, opener Avneesh Sudha, Tare's half-centuries followed by a 47-run knock by Swapnil helped Uttarakhand score 239 and take a 92-run lead. For Delhi, Navdeep Saini picked up four wickets. Shokeen took three wickets, Chauhan took a couple of wickets whereas Prince Yadav's one wicket helped wrap up the innings.
In their second innings, Delhi got off to a horrible start. Opener Rana was dismissed for a six-ball duck by Dhapola. In his next over, he dismissed Dhull and Kshitiz off consecutive deliveries to complete his second hat-trick of the season. Bora joined in too and got the wicket of Vaibhav Sharma to reduce Delhi to 10/4. To make matters worse, Dhapola struck again to dismiss Vaibhav Kandpal and Delhi lost half their side for 11. But Himmat stabilised the innings and then launched a counter-attack. He had support from wicketkeeper Lakshay Thareja. They shared an 182-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
Lakshay scored 43 runs from 125 deliveries before getting out to Negi. A few overs later, he dismissed Shokeen as well. Himmat kept firing from one end. He was dismissed for 194 by Swapnil. His game-changing knock from 217 balls was laced with 26 fours and a six. Delhi posted 264/9 recovering from 11/5 to set a target of 173 on the board.
With their first win in the season, they are placed sixth in Group D. They will take on Baroda in their next game at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi starting February 2.
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