Gautam Gambhir sought to leave a legacy of doggedness in the Delhi dressing room with his unbeaten 92 which saw the team finish the day at 190 for one in reply to Andhra’s 390 in the Ranji Trophy at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Friday.
Andhra, resuming at 266 for seven, rode on the shoulders of Ricky Bhui, who added 37 to his overnight score of 150 as the Andhra tail contributed 124 runs on a day when batsmen called the shots.
Hiten Dalal came up with a lively half-century, which contained nine fours, but it was the determination that Gambhir exuded at the other end that stood out.
Batting lesson
In his final First Class match, it was obvious that Gambhir will look to sign off on a high, which he ensured with a batting show that should serve as a lesson to the young Delhi camp.
Gambhir may not have been an epitome of perfection. He played and missed, earned three reprieves — two in the slips and one in the outfield — but did not lose his composure.
As in the past, Gambhir bore the brunt of the challenge, curbing his natural flair at times, garnering runs through deft placements and making his point that he was not a burden on the team.
Not the one to waste scoring opportunities, Gambhir dug himself in and played the ball on merit. The Andhra attack grew frustrated as Dalal too scored freely and Delhi came up with an opening partnership of 108.
Dhruv Shorey’s arrival at the crease added to the solidity and Gambhir concentrated on lasting the day. His 154-ball knock thus far has eight hits to the fence, and importantly gave the home team hopes of taking the first innings lead with two days left.
The scores: Andhra — 1st innings: D.B. Prashanth c Lalit b Bhati 0, K.S. Bharat lbw b Bhati 17, N. Jyothi Saikrishna lbw b Bhati 0, Ricky Bhui c Lalit b Simarjeet 187, B. Sumanth b Vikas 2, P. Girinath Reddy c Rawat b Bhati 29, B. Siva Charan Singh lbw b Lalit 27, Karn Sharma c Rawat b Bhati 31, Shoaib Khan b Vikas 28, G. Manish lbw b Vashisht 36, B. Ayyappa (not out) 21; Extras (b-1, lb-9, w-2): 12, Total (in 121 overs): 390.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-6, 3-35, 4-48, 5-122, 6-188, 7-265, 8-330, 9-338.
Delhi bowling: Bhati 27-8-485-5, Simarjeet 26-2-123-1, Vikas 33-10-79-2, Vashisht 20-3-67-1, Lalit 15-1-63-1.
Delhi — 1st innings: Gautam Gambhir (batting) 92, Hiten Dalal c Prashanth b Manish 58, Dhruv Shorey (batting) 39; Extras (w-1): 1; Total (for one wkt. in 56 overs): 190.
Fall of wicket: 1-108.
Andhra bowling: Ayyappa 6-0-37-0, Girinath 2-0-21-0, Manish 21-1-52-1, Shoaib 17-0-45-0, Karn 10-0-35-0 .
