Ayush Badoni’s (87, 97b, 9x4, 2x6) valiant effort went in vain as Delhi lost to Uttarakhand by 51 runs in its final Group C match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy at the Narendra Modi Stadium Ground B here on Tuesday.
Delhi had its tail up at the half-way mark, bundling out Uttarakhand for 221 inside 46 overs, with the last seven wickets costing only 29 runs. However, the contest turned into another affair of its batting might, withering away under pressure.
Akash Madhwal was the first to rattle Delhi with his early movement. Kshitiz Sharma and Yash Dhull departed while leaning forward for drives, with the former handing a catch to first slip and the latter to point.
The double strike forced Jonty Sidhu and Badoni to retreat. At 36 for two in the 17th over, it was the pressure to get going that led Sidhu to miscue a leg-side heave and hole out at mid-off.
Boundaries remained far and few between but Badoni and Himmat Singh chipped away at the target in singles. Just when Delhi’s pursuit was gathering steam with this pair, Mayank Mishra prised out Himmat and Lakshay Thareja in three deliveries.
If Uttarakhand did not have control till this point, it surely did so after Aditya Tare’s one-handed blinder to remove Harsh Tyagi, which left Delhi at 97 for seven.
But Delhi’s hopes lingered on with Badoni unwilling to relent.
He clobbered Jagmohan Nagarkoti and Mishra for two maximums over mid-wicket. Badoni then furnished a ramp shot off Madhwal before Harshit Rana tonked the same bowler down the ground. Avneesh Sudha, however, got Badoni to top-edge his sweep and quelled Delhi’s retaliation.
In the first innings, Sudha (85, 120b, 9x4) anchored Uttarakhand to what proved a surplus total. Delhi had to wait for nine overs to get its first wicket when Navdeep Saini trapped Yuvraj Choudhary down the leg.
After cruising through the PowerPlay at more than six runs per over, Uttarakhand was reined in by tweakers Hrithik Shokeen and Tyagi. The latter broke the 64-run second-wicket stand between Sudha and Deepesh Nailwal before Badoni removed captain Dikshanshu Negi.
Tare injected momentum to the innings with his 38-ball 58, tearing into the spinners who had yielded results until then. His stay included a slog-swept six each against Shokeen and Badoni. It took a delivery from Saini to stay low and sneak through Tare to castle him. The wicket allowed the spinners to retake control and orchestrate the collapse from 192 for three.
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