Sanat Sangwan’s defiant 83, and a bit of deliberate time-wasting by Navdeep Saini as the shadows lengthened, helped Delhi escape with a draw in its second-round Ranji Trophy match against Tamil Nadu at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Monday.
The final day’s play stretched beyond 5 p.m. as Delhi, in its bid to escape an innings defeat, hung on in fading light with two wickets in hand to come away with a point. TN bagged three points, having secured a 408-run first-innings lead by restricting Delhi to 266 for nine (Dhruv Kaushik was unable to bat due to a hand injury).
At the start of the second innings, Delhi, asked to follow on, was required to see out 85 overs to thwart the visiting team’s hopes of a victory. In the end, Delhi was 193 for eight in 83 overs, with the umpires deciding that the light was no longer good enough for another two overs.
Sonu bowls spin
This was after the visitor had already been instructed two balls into the 81st over to resort to spin. Pacer Sonu Yadav had to switch to bowling loopy off-breaks to complete that over before skipper N. Jagadeesan went to spinners Washington Sundar and S. Ajith Ram with the second new ball.
Even one wicket may have been enough given Kaushik’s injury, but Saini and Himanshu Chauhan didn’t allow it to come to that. Saini’s gamesmanship was a tad comical — off the second ball of the 81st over, he was hit on his head by a bouncer from Sonu.
He initially gestured with his right hand to suggest he was alright before the match situation dawned on him; what followed was hysterical play-acting as he walked away from the pitch and fell to the turf to demand the physio’s attention.
Sangwan also played his part earlier in the innings by consuming 231 deliveries. In retrospect, Tamil Nadu may rue batting as long as it did for its mammoth total in the first innings.
The scores:
Tamil Nadu — 1st innings: 674 for six decl.
Delhi — 1st innings: Sanat Sangwan c Jagadeesan b Mohammed 36, Harsh Tyagi c Indrajith b Washington 35, Yash Dhull (not out) 105, Himmat Singh c Jagadeesan b Gurjapneet 0, Jonty Sidhu c Sonu b Mohammed 4, Mayank Rawat c Jagadeesan b Sonu 0, Pranav Rajvanshi c Siddarth b Washington 40, Navdeep Saini c Sai Sudharsan b Gurjapneet 26, Himanshu Chauhan lbw b Ajith Ram 4, Pranshu Vijayran lbw b Washington 6, Dhruv Kaushik absent hurt; Extras (b-1, lb-8, nb-1): 10; Total (in 100 overs): 266.
Fall of wickets: 1-74, 2-84, 3-99, 4-103, 5-103, 6-178, 7-237, 8-250, 9-266.
Tamil Nadu bowling: Gurjapneet 23-9-48-2, Sonu Yadav 16-3-53-1, Mohammed 13-5-31-2, Pradosh 1-0-1-0, Washington 18-2-43-3, Ajith Ram 27-7-73-1, Shahrukh 2-0-8-0.
Delhi — 2nd innings: Yash Dhull b Gurjapneet 8, Sanat Sangwan c Jagadeesan b Sonu 83, Himmat c Indrajith b Washington 36, Jonty Sidhu b Ajith Ram 23, Mayank Rawat st. Jagadeesan b Washington 0, Pranav Rajvanshi c Shahrukh b Washington 10, Harsh Tyagi c Indrajith b Ajith Ram 7, Navdeep Saini (not out) 15, Pranshu Vijayran c Indrajith b Sonu 0, Himanshu Chauhan (not out) 0; Extras (b-4, lb-6, w-1): 11; Total (for eight wkts. in 83 overs): 193.
Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-74, 3-112, 4-113, 5-150, 6-161, 7-180, 8-180.
Tamil Nadu bowling: Gurjapneet 11-4-21-1, Sonu Yadav 10-3-37-2, Mohammed 9-3-21-0, Ajith Ram 19-7-52-2, Washington 25-9-45-3, Shahrukh 8-5-7-0, Pradosh 1-1-0-0.
PoM: Washington Sundar.
Published – October 21, 2024 08:36 pm IST
