Dream spell: Gaurav is cock-a-hoop after thwarting Delhi’s hopes of an affordable first innings rating.
| Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR
Delhi was beginning at humiliation in opposition to a medical Pondicherry on the midway stage of their Ranji Trophy on the Ferozeshah Kotla floor right here.
Saturday provided higher situations than one witnessed a day earlier and Pondicherry lapped it up with each palms. It restricted the house staff to 148 after Gaurav Yadav returned his career-best haul of seven for 49 within the National championship after which made 113 for two when dangerous gentle stopped play on the second day.
Trailing by 35 runs with eight wickets in hand, Pondicherry is giving Delhi a style of its personal drugs that it administered to lesser groups not so way back. Though the potential for an outright consequence will depend on taking part in time permitted by the prevailing climate, Pondicherry will probably be comfortable to make sure the primary innings lead and acquire extra factors than the host within the campaign-opener.
Before the Pondicherry batters stored two former internationals — Ishant Sharma and Navdeep Saini — at bay for the higher a part of the 29-over innings thus far, it was Gaurav who thwarted Delhi’s plans of an affordable first innings rating.
Having taken two of the 4 wickets to fall on Friday, Gaurav choked Delhi on Saturday. Gaurav’s figures of 16.5-5-27-5 on today accounted for the house staff’s final 5 wickets after Saurabh Tiwari offered the breakthrough by sending again the dependable Himmat Singh.
An import from Madhya Pradesh this season, Gaurav improved over his earlier greatest of 5 for 11 in opposition to Meghalaya in February, 2022. As a consequence, after beginning the day at 40 for 4, Delhi misplaced six wickets for an addition of simply 108 runs.
A 47-run fifth-wicket stand between Himmat and Kshitiz Sharma and one other 45-run eighth-wicket stand involving Navdeep Saini and Harsh Tyagi took Delhi nearer to the 150-run mark.
If the Delhi bowlers had been anticipated to use the situations higher, the Pondicherry top-order proved equal to the problem and strengthened the benefit given by Gaurav’s dream spell.
The scores:
Delhi — 1st innings: Yash Dhull b Gaurav 2, Lakshay Thareja lbw b Mathew 19, Vaibhav Rawal lbw b Gaurav 9, Himmat Singh b Saurabh 24, Ayush Badoni lbw b Mathew 2, Kshitiz Sharma b Gaurav 28, Hrithik Shokeen c Dogra b Gaurav 0, Harsh Tyagi b Gaurav 34, Navdeep Saini (not out) 16, Ishant Sharma c Pande b Gaurav 0, Himanshu Chauhan b Gaurav 0; Extras (b-8, lb-5, w-1): 14, Total (in 62.5 overs): 148.
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-30, 3-30, 4-38, 5-85, 6-86, 7-93, 8-138, 9-138.
Pondicherry bowling: Gaurav 26.5-6-49-7, Saurabh 15-5-39-1, Mathew 17-7-28-2, Krishna 3-0-10-0, Ahmed 1-0-9-0.
Pondicherry — 1st innings: Akash Kargave c Thareja b Ishant 28, Jay Pande lbw b Himanshu Chauhan 18, Santosh Ratnaparkhe (batting) 31, Paras Dogra (batting) 18; Extras (lb-13, w-5): 18, Total (for two wickets in 29 overs) 113.
Fall of wickets: 1-41, 2-65.
Delhi bowling: Ishant 9-2-28-1, Saini 10-0-31-0, Chauhan 7-0-32-0, Tyagi 3-0-9-0.
