Delhi moved from being the hunter to the hunted against Saurashtra in the space of three days in the Ranji Trophy Group B league tie.
Saurashtra covered up for its first innings nightmare with a robust 420 in the second essay, with top-scorer Kisan Parmar wiping out the first innings deficit of 145 with a personal best of 149 in only his second first-class game. No. 9 batsman Jaydev Unadkat hurt the Delhi bowlers further by scoring a game-changing 80.
Chasing 276 for victory, Delhi's reputed line-up could not deliver as Shikhar Dhawan, Gautam Gambhir, Unmukt Chand, Nitish Rana were all back in the dressing room. Gambhir was expected to heal the wounds caused by Saurashtra's assault on his bowlers. Dhawan fell cheaply for the second time and captain followed suit, leg before to Shauraya Sanandiya for the second time in three days.
The former Ranji champion recovered to post 109 for four wickets at stumps on day three, leaving in-form Rishabh Pant and dependable Milind Kumar to plot the chase.
Earlier, it was the turn of Delhi fast bowlers to feel the weight of Unadkat’s bat as he hit seven sixes in a rapidfire 80 off 81 balls. The Saurashtra left-hander was provoked with bouncers but he kept ducking out of danger to neutralise the hostile intentions of the frustrated bowlers. He also cracked five fours in a knock signalling the team’s determination to fight its way out of trouble.
Saurashtra, ahead by 89, refused to give up on the third morning and added 186 runs. Parmar and Vasavda kepth faith in risk-free batting to counter the fast bowlers. Navdeep Saini howled with delight after striking in the fifth over on day three to remove the opener. Parmar had no clue to a ball that pitched up and drifted past the bat to disturb the stumps. Playing his second first-class game, the young right-hander had lasted 384 minutes, 250 balls and fell one short of 150.
Vasavda fell 10 runs short of century and was the steadying hand in stands with Parmar and Unadkat.
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