Delhi bounced back by taking six wickets in Haryana’s second innings, until the unfinished seventh-wicket stand of skipper Amit Mishra and Jayant Yadav wrested back the initiative for the home team on the third day of the Ranji Trophy encounter at the Bansi Lal Stadium here.
Delhi, which conceded an 83-run first-innings lead after being bowled out for 224 in the first session, hit back to reduce Haryana to 109 for six.
With all the specialist batsmen back in the dressing room, Haryana looked in danger of getting bowled for under 150.
However, under pressure, Mishra and Yadav batted sensibly. They have so far added 58 crucial runs and kept Delhi wicketless for 79 minutes.
It was clear that Delhi had not reckoned with Mishra’s batting skills.
The leg-spinner counter-attacked by hitting a six and four boundaries in his 62-ball 50. He finished the day with a boundary to reach his ninth half-century in the championship. As things stand,
Haryana is 250 runs ahead with four wickets remaining.
Given the dry pitch that continues to assist spin — though the medium pacers have been more successful so far — Mishra and Yadav will be looking to torment Delhi with the ball, too. Before left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra and medium-pacer Sumit Narwal shared five wickets to raise Delhi’s hopes, the visiting team added 59 runs to its overnight 165 for six.
Unmukt Chand, joined by the seasoned Mithun Manhas who was nursing neck spasms, added only seven to his overnight score of 76 before offering a regulation catch to wicketkeeper Nitin Saini.
The young opener’s poor stroke selection off an away going delivery effectively ended Delhi’s hopes of being ahead in the first innings.
The scores: Haryana — 1st innings : 307.
Delhi —1st innings : Shikhar Dhawan b Mohit 8, Unmukt Chand c Saini b Hooda 83, Mohit Sharma c Saini b Patel 0, Mithun Manhas c Khod b Mohit 53, Vaibhav Rawal b Patel 15, Rajat Bhatia b Mishra 21, Punit Bisht (run out) 9, Sumit Narwal c Khod b Mishra 5, Manoj Chauhan c Khod b Patel 2, Parvinder Awana b Mohit 12, Vikas Mishra (not out) 0; Extras (b-10, lb-1, nb-5): 16; Total (in 76.1 overs): 224.
Fall of wickets : 1-4, 2-16, 3-42, 4-109, 5-146, 6-165, 7-186, 8-195, 9-223.
Haryana bowling : Mohit Sharma 17.1-5-35-3, Patel 20-1-55-3, Hooda 13-4-24-1, Yadav 8-3-25-0, A. Mishra 16-0-63-2, Rana 2-0-11-0.
Haryana — 2nd innings : Rahul Dewan c Rawal b Mishra 12, Nitin Saini c Mishra b Narwal 5, Sunny Singh c Rawal b Mishra 7, Abhimanyu Khod lbw b Mishra 36, Rahul Dalal c Chauhan b Narwal 16, Sachin Rana b Awana 23, Amit Mishra (batting) 50, Jayant Yadav (batting) 12; Extras (nb-1, w-5): 6; Total (for six wkts. in 59 overs): 167.
Fall of wickets : 1-22, 2-22, 3-35, 4-68, 5-103, 6-109.
Delhi bowling : P. Awana 12-0-39-1, V. Mishra 26-8-57-3, M. Chauhan 8-0-40-0, S. Narwal 9-4-15-2, R. Bhatia 4-0-16-0.
