Newly-appointed Delhi captain Ayush Badoni displayed his true potential with a sparkling century to keep Delhi on course for a first innings lead against Jharkhand on the third day of their group D Ranji Trophy match here on Friday. Known for his exploits at the IPL level for Lucknow Super Giants, Badoni showed his appetite for runs with an unbeaten 116 off 144 balls in Delhi’s day end score of 238 for 5 in reply to Jharkhand’s healthy first innings total of 382. Badoni has added 80 runs for the unbroken sixth wicket stand with Sumit Mathur (19 batting) but his job is far from over as Delhi need another 148 runs on the final day to take three more points and remain in contention for a quarter-final berth with two more matches to go.
The difference in quality between Badoni and some of his teammates was for everyone to see as he hit 11 fours and four sixes — two off former MI left-arm spinner Anukul Roy apart from 11 crisply hit boundaries.
Delhi were 98 for 4 at one stage with only Anuj Rawat (52) among the top-order making significant contribution.
This season’s designated skipper Himmat Singh (0), who was sacked after defeat against Chandigarh, continued his poor run of form and is expected to be replaced by Jonty Sidhu in the next game.
The first significant stand was 60 for the fifth wicket between Mayank Gusain (24) and Badoni.
The best part about Badoni’s batting was unlike his other colleagues, he didn’t get into a shell and counterpunched the Jharkhand bowlers with strokes all around the ground, never afraid to take the aerial route which he did while getting four maximums.
On the final day, the skipper would hope to get a double hundred but more importantly expect support from both Mathur and lower-order batter Siddhant Sharma, both capable players, who have already contributed with the bat earlier this season.
Brief Scores: In Delhi: Jharkhand 1st Innings 382 (Kumar Kushagra 156, Sharandeep Singh 66, Simarjeet Singh 3/52). Delhi 1st Innings 238/5 (Ayush Badoni 116 batting, Anuj Rawat 52).
In Chandigarh: Saurashtra 531/9 decl (Chirag Jani 198, Nishunk Birla 4/160). Chandigarh 249 (Rajangad Bawa 92, Jaydev Unadkat 3/50). (f/o) 184/7 (Ankit Kaushik 64 batting, Yuvraj Dodiya 3/87) In Raipur: Assam 1st Innings 289 and 58/1. Chattisgarh 500/9 decl (Ayush Pandey 211, Parvez Musaraf 3/22).
In Ahmedabad: Railways 229 and 169/5 (B Vivek Singh 63, Mohammed Saif 52 batting).
Tamil Nadu 438 (Mohamed Ali 91, C Andre Siddarth 78).
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