Delhi made a strong start in the Super League phase of the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament with a comprehensive 77-run win over Maharashtra at the CB Patel stadium here on Thursday.
Put in to bat, Delhi made 167/5 thanks to small cameos by the top order batsmen with skipper Dhruv Shorey making an unbeaten 48. He was ably helped by Himmat Singh, who slammed a 16-ball 32 with three sixes. On a wicket that had turn and bounce, it was Nitish Rana that starred for Delhi — picking up four wickets with his off-spin in addition to his 21 with the bat.
In reply, Maharashtra’s chase never got going. Every time a batsman tried to take charge and go over the top for a big one, he found a fielder invariably and the team was bowled out for just 90.
Only opener Ruturaj Gaikwad showed some fight with a valiant 42 (32b, 4x4, 1x6) but he struggled for support from the other end.
Delhi’s fielding was top notch with some brilliant relay catches in the deep in addition to two run-outs including the crucial one of Kedar Jadhav.
Earlier, opener Shikhar Dhawan started things off well for Delhi with a six in the first over hitting left-arm spinner Azim Kazi over midwicket before finding two boundaries off pacer Digvijay Deshmukh through point. Fellow opener Hiten Dalal too looked good as the duo got Delhi off to a good start with a 44-run opening wicket stand. However, Deshmukh fought back removing opener Dalal caught at midwicket before off-spinner Shamshuzama Kazi dismissed Dhawan for 24, caught behind when going for a reverse sweep.
The off-spinner soon had Anuj Rawat too caught behind to reduce Delhi to 68/3 in the ninth over. Shorey then started aggressively with a six and four before he consolidated while Rana looked to go after the bowling with a couple of sixes against the spinners in his 18-ball 21.
Himmat Singh who joined Shorey then gave the innings some momentum scoring at a strike rate of 200 in a knock that included two fours and three sixes.
In one over off Deshmukh, Himmat hit him for two sixes — one over long-off and a hook over midwicket — before putting a full toss through the leg-side for a boundary. Once he was dismissed, Shorey took charge with three quick boundaries that pushed Delhi’s total beyond 160 as he brought up his half-century.
