Poor light restricted play to only 19 overs as Pondicherry pacers exploited the cloudy conditions and kept Delhi to 40 for four on the opening day of their Group D Ranji Trophy league match at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground in New Delhi on Friday.
After Pondicherry won the toss and put Delhi to bat, medium pacers Gourav Yadav and Abin Mathew struck by turns to finish with two wickets each.
Playing his 30th Ranji Trophy match and first for Pondicherry, Gourav bowled Delhi skipper Yash Dhull in the fifth over. Having moved to Pondicherry from Madhya Pradesh, Gourav proved his worth straightaway by making full use of the conditions. He swung the ball just enough to force the batters to play the wrong line. He did it again in the 15th over by trapping Vaibhav Rawal leg-before.
In the previous over, first-change Mathew sent back Lakshay Thareja, the only batter to play with some confidence in trying conditions. After hitting Gourav for two boundaries, Thareja fell leg-before to Mathew. Similarly, in the 18th over, Ayush Badoni became Mathew’s second victim after playing the wrong line.
With the weather forecast indicating cloudy days ahead, further fall in temperature followed by icy winds, the teams expect delayed starts and early closures on each of the next three days.
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