Delhi’s joy of restricting Vidarbha to 179 proved short-lived as Aditya Thakare brought Vidarbha right back into its Ranji Trophy match by reducing the host to 41 for four at close of the opening day’s action at the Ferozshah Kotla ground here on Sunday.
On a grassy pitch, in cold conditions, Delhi could have done better after winning the toss but for a few slipped catches and veteran Wasim Jaffer’s classy innings of 83.
Simarjeet Singh proved Delhi’s spearhead as he removed openers Faiz Fazal and S. R. Ramaswamy and returned to put the finishing touches to Vidarbha innings with a four-wicket haul.
Ishant Sharma, who took three wickets, got the prized scalp of Jaffer. He bowled Jaffer just when the batsman was raising visions of his 41st century in the National championship.
Standing firm
On a bowler’s day, Jaffer’s knock stood out. He knew which deliveries to leave outside the off-stump and dealt well with Delhi’s all-pace attack. Walking in at 13 for one, Jaffer produced an innings of substance before his dismissal made it 162 for seven for Vidarbha. His 131-ball innings included 11 hits to the boundary.
When Delhi batted, things went smoothly until the first 22 runs before Thakare sent back four batsmen in the space of 13 runs.
With Umesh Yadav keeping up the pressure from the other end, Thakare claimed dividends for his disciplined line and incoming deliveries. He struck the most lethal blow with the one that forced skipper Dhruv Shorey to play and the resultant outside edge of the bat was taken by wicketkeeper.
With the conditions helping the pacers, Vidarbha will be looking to strike early on Monday to maximise its gains. Delhi, with in-from Nitish Rana still in, and three other batsmen capable of giving ample support, is not without hope of giving a better account of its batting.
The scores:
Vidarbha — 1st innings: Faiz Fazal lbw b Simarjeet 3, S.R. Ramaswamy b Simarjeet 14, Wasim Jaffer b Ishant 83, Ganesh Satish c Rawat b Khejroliya 6, M.R. Kale c Dalal b Bidhuri 2, A. Wadkar b Ishant 11, Aditya Sarvate c Shorey b Simarjeet 9, Akshay Wakhare c Yadav b Khejrolia 16, Umesh Yadav c Rana b Ishant 6, Rajneesh Gurbani (not out) 0, Aditya Thakare b Simarjeet 0, Extras (b-10, lb-6, nb-3) 19; Total (in 61.5 overs) 179.
Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-36, 3-50, 4-63, 5-103, 6-133, 7-162, 8-168, 9-174.
Delhi bowling: Ishant 14-1-45-3, Simarjeet 16.5-5-39-4, Khejrolia 18-3-50-2, Bidhuri 8.5-2-21-1, Lalit Yadav 4-1-7-0, Rana 0.1-0-1-0.
Delhi — 1st innings: Kunal Chandela lbw b Thakare 6, Hiten Dalal lbw b Thakare 14, Dhruv Shorey c Wadkar b Thakare 0, Nitish Rana (batting) 3, Jonty Sidhu b Thakare 8, Lalit Yadav (batting) 0, Extras (b-4, lb-5, w-1) 10; Total (for four wickets in 12 overs) 41.
Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2–22, 3-27, 4-35.
Vidarbha bowling: Umesh Yadav 6-1-17-0, Thakare 5-2-14-4, Wakhare 1-0-1-0 .
