New Delhi:
Off-spinner Shivam Sharma grabbed five wickets as Delhi ended their Ranji Trophy league campaign on a high, sealing a bonus point win over Railways here on Saturday. Resuming the day at 334 for seven, Delhi ended up with 374 all out in the first session to take a 133-run lead. Railways batters played some reckless shots that expedited the outcome of the match. They were all out for 114 in 30.4 overs in the afternoon session to suffer an innings defeat, handing Delhi seven points. It also denied the crowd a chance to see batting icon Virat Kohli in action for a second time in this match.
For Delhi, Sumit Mathur (86), who was batting on 78 overnight, could not reach the three-figure mark as Kohli’s conqueror on day two, Himanshu Sangwan, ended with four wickets.
It was Delhi’s second win of the season and their chances of making the knockouts from Elite Group D depend on results of other matches. The match had attracted national attention because of one man – Kohli who returned to Ranji Trophy after 13 years.
The spectators were robbed of the opportunity to see Kohli in the second innings as Railways batters self-destructed on a slow and low surface.
The former India captain himself would not have minded another hit in the middle after managing six off 15 balls on day two.
It was a procession after Delhi left-arm pacer Siddhant Sharma trapped Suraj Ahuja with an inswinger.
His opening partner Vivek Singh (12) hit a crisp cover drive off Siddhant before an over-aggressive approach got the better of him as he stepped out to offie Shivam only to be caught at backward point.
A little later Mohammed Saif (31 off 31 balls) also charged down the wicket against Shivam but could not get past the mid-on fielder.
Sidhant removed Suraj Ahuja with an inswinger. Even Delhi were not expecting the game to end this early but the opposition batters had other plans.
Navdeep Saini castled Bhargav Merai to make it 57 for four before Railways’ star batter in the first innings Upendra Yadav (19) perished off an incoming ball from Money Grewal.
The game got over when number 10 Kunal Yadav was dismissed by Delhi skipper Ayush Badoni as number 11 Anchit Yadav did not come out to bat.
Kohli, who returned to domestic cricket after 13 years, also spent a long time in the dressing room with his teammates, shaking hands and posing for pictures.
The star cricketer also dropped into Railways dressing room to meet the opposition players.
Brief scores: Delhi 374 in 106.4 overs beat Railways 241 and 114 all out in 30.5 overs (Mohammed Said 31; Shivam Sharma 5/33) by innings and 19 runs. PTI BS UNG 7/21/2024
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