The Delhi pace trio continued to run through the opposition batting line-up without any fuss to set up its second convincing win in as many outings in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on Wednesday. Thanks to the pacers sharing seven wickets between them, Delhi outclassed Andhra by six wickets and three overs to spare at the Wankhede Stadium.
With its second facile win in three days, Shikhar Dhawan and Co. top the Group E standings, with a healthy net run rate. If Monday saw Delhi strangulate Mumbai’s top-order while defending a gargantuan total, on Wednesday, the pacers justified captain Dhawan’s faith in them while electing to field first.
Veteran Ishant Sharma (two for17), promising Simarjeet Singh (two for 21) and seasoned Pradeep Sangwan (three for 33) wreaked havoc in the Andhra top-order to ensure Andhra didn’t get off to a good start. They virtually repeated their power-packed performance in the Powerplay against Mumbai.
Having reduced Mumbai to 17 for four in the fifth over on Monday, on Wednesday saw the trio leaving Andhra reeling at 15 for three, accounting for the three batsmen on whom Andhra’s batting is reliant. While Simrajeet induced an edge off K.S. Bharat in the second over, Ishant cleaned up Ricky Bhui for a blob in the next over. Simrajeet then had the prize scalp in the next over, cleaning up captain Ambati Rayudu.
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The damage was too much to handle as Andhra crawled to 35 for three at the half-way stage. Thanks to a late charge by K.V. Sasikanth and Shoaib Mohammed Khan, Andhra managed to finish at 124 for nine.
A target of 125 was never going to be challenging for Delhi. Despite Harishankar Reddy dismissing openers Shikhar Dhawan and Hiten Dalal in the second over, Nitish Rana and Anuj Rawat steadied the ship with a 52-run partnership before Himmat Singh and all rounder Lalit Yadav finished the proceedings with three overs to spare.
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