Ranji Trophy 2022-23: Delhi fights back to take lead over Maharashtra on Day 3

With a lead of 81 runs, the onus will be on Himmat Singh and Lalit Yadav - the last recognised pair of specialist batters - to first take Delhi to safety

Published : Dec 15, 2022 17:52 IST , Pune

FILE PHOTO: Delhi’s Himmat Singh in action.
FILE PHOTO: Delhi’s Himmat Singh in action. | Photo Credit: SANDEEP SAXENA
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FILE PHOTO: Delhi’s Himmat Singh in action. | Photo Credit: SANDEEP SAXENA

The Ranji Trophy opening round between Delhi and Maharashtra at the Maharashtra Cricket Association ground is poised for an interesting last day’s finish, with the visiting team under pressure to save the game.

Having been frustrated by Azim Kazi and Ashay Palkar for most of the second day, the Delhi bowlers wiped off the remaining three wickets in a hurry on Thursday. The Maharashtra bowling unit - with the cushion of a 133-run advantage - then restricted Delhi to 214 for five.

With a lead of 81 runs, the onus will be on Himmat Singh and Lalit Yadav - the last recognised pair of specialist batters - to first take Delhi to safety and save the ignominy of returning without a point.

While the Delhi middle order will be rueing of not converting starts into big scores, the Maharashtra camp will be disappointed with butter fingers of its fielders.

Yash Dhull was dropped twice - by wicketkeeper Saurabh Nawale and Siddhesh Veer at point - off Manoj Ingale early on in Dhull’s innings. The Delhi captain went on to score a scratchy 57, before being adjudged caught behind off Rajvardhan Hangargekar’s short ball.

Later in the day, captain Rahul Tripathi failed to latch on to a return catch off Vaibhav Rawal’s blade, when he was on 3. The left-hander not only scored a handy fifty but his 104-run partnership with Himmat but also gave Delhi a slim hope of pulling off an unlikely win.

It was Palkar - one of the two home team heroes of the game - who brought Maharashtra back in the game by forcing a nick off Rawal’s willow half an hour before stumps.

Earlier in the morning, Palkar added six runs to his overnight unbeaten score of 94 and raise his bat for a maiden First Class hundred. But Simarjeet Singh soon got him to hand a regulation catch to Lalit in the slip cordon.

Vikas Mishra, the left-arm spinner, then cleaned up the remaining two batters with Maharashtra adding 19 runs to its overnight total of 305 for seven.

The scoreboard:

Delhi — 1st innings: 191

Maharashtra — 1st innings: Pawan Shah c Rawat b Simarjeet 3, Siddhesh Veer c Rawat b Mayank 23, Kaushal Tambe c Dhull b Simarjeet 0, Rahul Tripathi c Lalit b Ishant 1, Naushad Shaikh c Himmat b Mayank 45, Satyajeet Bachhav (run out/ Dhull) 0, Azim Kazi c Rawal b Mishra 124, Saurabh Nawale lbw b Simarjeet 9, Ashay Palkar c Lalit b Simarjeet 100, Rajvardhan Hangargekar c Rawat b Mishra 2, Manoj Ingale (not out) 6; Extras (b-4, lb-6, nb-1): 11; Total (All out, 124.5 overs): 324.

Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-13, 3-14, 4-73, 6-83, 7-94, 8-313, 9-317.

Delhi bowling: Ishant 20-6-46-1, Simarjeet 35-9-69-4, Mayank 17.2-3-46-2, Mishra 26.5-1-83-2, Rana 14-3-48-0, Lalit 11.4-1-22-0.

Delhi — 2nd innings: Dhruv Shorey b Ingale 0, Anuj Rawat lbw b Hangargekar 5, Yash Dhull c Nawale b Hangargekar 57, Nitish Rana (run out) 40, Vaibhav Rawal c Nawale b Palkar 55, Himmat Singh (batting) 67, Lalit Yadav (batting) 6; Extras (nb-1, w-2): 3; Total (for five wkts., 72 overs): 233.

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-20, 3-99, 4-109, 5-213.

Maharashtra bowling: Ingale 16-7-45-1, Palkar 13-1-42-1, Hangargekar 15-2-58-2, Bachhav 16-2-55-0, Tripathi 6-0-15-0, Veer 6-0-18-0.

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