Madhya Pradesh and Delhi will vie for honours in the Take Sports all-India Buchi Babu tournament when the two sides meet in the final at the Sri Ramakrishna College ground here starting on Friday.
Both the teams took contrasting routes to reach the summit clash, with Delhi posting outright wins in its last league match against Jammu & Kashmir and in the semifinals against Chhattisgarh.
Madhya Pradesh, meanwhile, won its opening fixture against Baroda before edging ahead on the first-innings lead in the second league game against Haryana and in similar fashion against TNCA XI in the last-four contest.
Challenging situations
The two sides have shown the ability to turn things around from challenging situations, like when MP forced a result against Baroda after conceding the first-innings lead.
The team has not relied on one individual batter with as many as four centurions doing the job so far.
Five-wicket hauls
In the bowling department, spinners Adheer Pratap Singh and Sagar Solanki had five-wicket hauls in the victory against Baroda in the fourth innings.
For Delhi, skipper Himmat Singh set the foundation for the tournament with a sensational unbeaten 232 along with Jonty Sidhu’s 121 in reply to Mumbai’s mammoth first-innings total of 619 for seven declared.
The match ended with neither team taking the first innings lead as Delhi finished on 529 for eight, ensuring each team took one point. Off-spinner Hrithik Shokeen has been the best bowler with 13 scalps.
While both teams are evenly matched, MP will feel it has an edge as it looks more consistent.
At the same time, Delhi’s batting collapse in the third innings (80 all out) against Chhattisgarh in the semifinals showed an area of vulnerability.
