After taking control of its Ranji Trophy Group ‘B’ match against Delhi by lunch time on the third day, Maharashtra made mistakes and ceded much ground as it lost four wickets in a clutch. It was then up to the sixth-wicket pair of Rahul Tripathi (batting 40) and Chirag Khurana (batting 63) to pull their team ahead by 210 runs at stumps with an unbroken 102-run stand.
With half the side intact, Maharashtra would be less anxious when play resumes on the last day on Saturday, but Delhi may still fancy its chances of forcing an outright win.
Earlier in the day, Anupam Sanklecha’s splendid wicket-to-wicket line with the second new ball — claimed when it was due after the completion of 80 overs — helped Maharashtra bowl out Delhi and take a 23-run first innings lead.
For the first time in the league group topper Delhi (30 points) cracked under pressure, especially after Gautam Gambhir fell to off-spinner Khurana on the ninth ball of the day. The Delhi captain not only missed his century by six runs, but also saw his team fold up after adding 67 runs.
Seen not long ago as a bright prospect for Maharashtra cricket, Khurana scored a half century in his side’s first innings score of 330. He returned with the bat again not only to rescue it from a floundering 82 for five, but also to raise hopes of keeping the first innings lead intact and improve its chances of advancing to the knock-out.
Maharashtra showed the spirit to compete for two and half days against an opponent that was in form and hence a clear favourite in the match. At 81 for one and with Khadiwale going strong, the match appeared to be meandering toward a draw and the prospect of just a point for Delhi.
But much against the run of play Delhi was celebrating the dismissal of four batsmen in a matter of six overs. The home team nose-dived to a crisis of sorts when Khadiwale departed at 81. Skipper Rohit Motwani followed him trying to hook, Ankit Bawne nicked to the ’keeper and Kedar Jadhav was declared caught.
It was Rahul Yadav’s third catch of the afternoon and eighth in the match, but Jadhav indicated that his bat made no contact with the ball. The right-hander may have received a bad decision, but his team would probably have the right to ask him the prudence of playing a risky shot when he had made only one run off 12 balls. He had made the same mistake in the first innings.
From 81 for one in the 21st over Maharashtra slipped to 85 for five in the 27th and the situation needed some sound application of mind over matter to overcome Delhi’s seamers. Tripathi and Khurana responded well for the home team.
The scores: Maharashtra — 1st innings: 330.
Delhi — 1st innings: Unmukt Chand c Muthuswamy b Sanklecha 1, Gautam Gambhir c Muthuswamy b Khurana 94, Manan Sharma c Motwani b Muthuswamy 18, Virender Sehwag lbw b Khurana 66, Mithun Manhas b Fallah 6, Rajat Bhatia c Tripathi b Muthuswamy 65, Rahul Yadav lbw b Fallah 4, Varun Sood lbw b Sanklecha 8, Sumit Narwal c Motwani b Sanklecha 4, Parvinder Awana c Bawne b Sanklecha 20, Vikas Tokas (not out) 3; Extras (b-4, lb-11, nb-1, w-2): 18; Total (in 97.1 overs): 307.
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-41, 3-143, 4-149, 5-241, 6-253, 7-276, 8-276, 9-289.
Maharashtra bowling: Samad Fallah 30-5-80-2, Anupam Sanklecha 26.1-5-62-4, Shrikant Mundhe 15-2-53-0, Dominic Muthuswamy 16-2-46-2, Rahul Tripathi 4-0-10-0, Chirag Khurana 5-0-35-2, Swapnil Gugale 1-0-6-0.
Maharashtra — 2nd innings: Swapnil Gugale c Shewag b Narwal 9, Harshad Khadiwale c Chand b Awana 63, Rohit Motwani c Yadav b Tokas 7, Ankit Bawne c Yadav b Narwal 0, Kedar Jadhav c Yadav b Awana 1, Rahul Tripathi (batting) 40, Chirag Khurana (batting) 63; Extras (nb-2, w-2): 4; Total (for 5 wickets in 65 overs): 187.
Fall of wickets: 1-47, 2-81, 3-81, 4-82, 5-82.
Delhi bowling: Sumit Narwal 15-5-43-2, Parvinder Awana 10-2-42-2, Vikas Tokas 19-4-48-1, Varun Sood 7-3-7-0, Rajat Bhatia 2-0-3-0, Manan Sharma 10-1-36-0, Mithun Manas 2-0-8-0.
