Delhi’s eight-year wait for a place in the Ranji Trophy semi-final ended following an authoritative run-chase for a seven-wicket victory over Madhya Pradesh on Monday.
The purposeful-presence of Gautam Gambhir in the middle ensured Delhi was never threatened in its pursuit of 217. Though Gambhir was distinctly unlucky to miss a well-deserved hundred, his two near-century stands with opener Kunal Chandela and Dhruv Shorey brought Delhi to the doorstep of victory. Nitish Rana hoisted a six to signal Delhi’s triumph, just 43 minutes into the second session.
Delhi, which conceded the first innings to Mumbai when it last figured in the semi-final in January 2010, now plays Bengal in Pune from December 17.
On this day, the Delhi batsmen scored 209 runs in just 193 minutes, hitting four sixes and 21 boundaries spread across 48.4 overs.
Gambhir used the opportunity well with some fluent strokeplay on both sides of the pitch. He smashed a six and nine fours but fell when in sight of a third century this season.
A powerful drive from Shorey shattered the stumps at the non-striker’s end after the ball touched the outstretched hand of bowler Mihir Hirwani. At this point, Gambhir was out of the crease in his hurry to get back the strike.
Earlier, Chandela impressed as he dominated the MP attack. Not afraid to hit in the air, the right-hander smashed two sixes apart from six fours, But soon after reaching his second half-century of the match, Chandela holed out to long-off to end the 98-run second-wicket stand.
Shorey joined Gambhir and the duo added 95 runs in just 22.4 overs before the former India opener departed. Shorey was to miss a chance to complete his half-century when Rana slammed the winning six.
MP skipper Devendra Bundela, 40, who has probably played his last first-class match, said, “We lost the plot in the first innings when we did not score well on a batting pitch. Even in the second innings, the loss of two quick wickets on the fourth morning left us with very little options. I think, a target of 260 could have made it very interesting.”
