Debutant Milind Kumar and a resolute Rajat Bhatia recorded unbeaten half-centuries to keep Delhi firmly in the hunt for the first innings lead against Haryana on the second day of the Ranji Trophy Elite league clash at the Roshanara Club ground here on Friday.
After taking the last three wickets and halting Haryana at 293 in 38 minutes of batting, Delhi ended the day at 214 runs for three. The host needs another 80 runs for the first innings lead, with two days of play left.
Much like rookie Abhimanyu Khod's knock on Thursday for Haryana, 20-year-old Milind showed maturity and responsibility under pressure. The Delhi under-22 captain started aggressively but did not get carried away. So far, he has hit 12 boundaries, including six in the region between fine-leg and mid-wicket. His driving on the off-side, too, carried a touch of assurance.
Bhatia lived up to the expectations as he garnered runs with authority and rotated the strike almost at will. The 32-year-old sent the ball to all parts of the ground and collected nine boundaries.
Earlier, when Delhi resumed its response after Pradeep Sangwan claimed two more wickets to finish with his fifth five-wicket haul in the competition, openers Unmukt Chand and Shikhar Dhawan gifted away their wickets. In the second session, young leg-spinner Yuzuvendra Chahal had skipper Mithun Manhas caught bat-pad at forward short leg to raise Haryana's hopes. But thereafter, the unfinished 98-run stand tilted the scales in Delhi's favour.
The scores: Haryana — 1st innings: Nitin Saini c Dhawan b Mishra 14, Rahul Dewan c Dhawan b Bhatia, 26, Sunny Singh c Negi b Awana 51, Abhimanyu Khod c Dhawan b Sangwan 68, Sachin Rana b Sangwan 80, Priyank Tehlan c Bisht b Awana 9, Pratik Pawar (not out) 21, Dhruv Singh b Sangwan 0, Amit Vashisht c Bisht b Sangwan 6, Yuzuvendra Chahal b Awana 5, Harshal Patel b Sangwan 4, Extras (lb-3, nb-3, w-3) 9, Total (in 96.5 overs) 293.
Fall of wickets: 1-29, 2-71, 3-115, 4-241, 5-254, 6-256, 7-256, 8-272, 9-277.
Delhi bowling: Pradeep Sangwan 22.5-4-67-5, Parvinder Awana 27-4-95-3, Rishit Saini 12-2-45-0, Vikas Mishra 18-4-36-1, Rajat Bhatia 13-4-31-1, Mithun Manhas 1-0-5-0, Pawan Negi 3-0-11-0.
Delhi — 1st innings: Unmukt Chand b Rana b Rana 24, Shikhar Dhawan c Saini b Vashisht 16, Milind Kumar (batting) 84, Mithun Manhas c Khod b Chahal 29, Rajat Bhatia (batting) 57, Extras (b-1, nb-3), Total (for three wickets in 73 overs) 214.
Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-52, 3-116,
Haryana bowling: Patel 14-1-63-0, Rana 13-3-43-1, Vashisht 12-1-35-1, Dhruv Singh 16-7-31-0, Chahal 13-3-21-1, Sunny 2-2-0-0, Tehlan 3-0-20-0.
