Day 2 of the ongoing Ranji Trophy match between Delhi and Railways was a total rollercoaster for the hosts. The day began with the heartbreaking dismissal of India star batter Virat Kohli for 5, who failed to leave a mark on his return to Ranji Trophy. Following this, skipper Ayush Badoni flaunted his batting skills and brought Delhi back into the game. He was looking flawless in his approach but his dream of bringing up his century was shattered after he was dismissed by Karn Sharma for 99.
During the 56th over, Badoni went for a slog sweep against Sharma but the ball hit the top edge and was caught by Kunal Yadav.
Seeing the young captain missing his century by a whisker, Kohli gave a disappointing look while sitting in the dugout.
Virat Kohli’s reactions and he was disappointed when Ayush Badoni got out on 99 runs. pic.twitter.com/O5xxJAdvK4
— Tanuj Singh (@ImTanujSingh) January 31, 2025
Talking about the match, resuming the day at 41/1, Delhi were able to get past Railways’ 241 courtesy a 133-run stand between Badoni (99 off 77) and Sumit Mathur (78 not out off 189). At stumps, Delhi had taken a 93-run lead by reaching 334/7.
Badoni put the opposition bowlers under pressure with a fearless display of stroke-making before falling to a slog sweep of leg-spinner Karn Sharma in the 56th over.
Railways pacers were a tad unlucky in not getting a breakthrough in the first hour of play with Yash Dhull (32 off 69) and Sanat Sangwan living dangerously. After a few streaky boundaries, Dhull played a copybook cover drive before being adjudged leg before wicket off left-arm pacer Rahul Sharma.
Dhull’s dismissal brought Virat Kohli to the middle, drawing a loud roar from the fans. However, the joy of fans was short-lived as the superstar went for an expansive drive off Himanshu Sangwan but the missed the ball completely to see his off-stump uprooted.
Kohli had drilled a straight boundary the ball before but standing outside the crease, he went for the attack again only to miss the ball that seamed back in slightly.
Sangwan also breached the defenses of opener Sanat Sangwan (30 off 81) in the following over leaving Delhi at 97 for four in the 30th over.
Delhi captain Badoni then led from the front to put his team in a strong position. He took the attack to Railways especially left-arm spinner Ayan Chaudhari, dispatching him for three sixes.
He entered into his 90s with back-to-back sixes before mistiming a sweep off Karn Sharma to be caught at short fine-leg on 99. The sweep had yielded him the desired results until his dismissal in the 56th over.
Badoni’s innings comprised 12 fours and three sixes. It was an innings that underlined his contribution to Delhi’s campaign this season. He is both the leading run-getter and leading wicket-taker for his team in Ranji Trophy.
(With PTI Inputs)
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