NEW DELHI: In another disheartening setback for a seemingly clueless Delhi team, they succumbed to their second embarrassing defeat in three games this
Ranji Trophy season
, losing by 86 runs to Madhya Pradesh in their Elite Group D match on Sunday.
The defeat stings even more for Delhi, given that they had initially put themselves in a commanding position by dismissing the hosts for 171 on the opening day.
However, on day three, resuming at 157 for five, Madhya Pradesh managed to post 251 in their second innings, setting a target of 218 runs for Delhi.
Despite seemingly favorable batting conditions, Delhi's batsmen appeared ill-equipped and were eventually bowled out for a mere 131, even as the umpires extended play beyond the scheduled close. Vaibhav Kandpal's resilient 49 not out off 125 balls was a lone effort, but he ran out of partners as Delhi capitulated in 53.5 overs.
This defeat adds to Delhi's woes, having lost to Puducherry in their Ranji opener and sharing points with Jammu in a game affected by bad light. Despite a change in captaincy after the initial loss, the team's fortunes remain unchanged, with the batters failing consistently.
The batting struggles extend from U-19 World Cup-winning skipper Yash Dhull, who managed only 33 off 46 balls on Sunday, to his opening partner Salil Malhotra, who lasted just three balls. In contrast, MP's skipper
Shubham Sharma
played a crucial role in their second innings with a game-changing 73 off 74 balls.
MP's victory was fueled by an all-round bowling effort, with Anubhav Agarwal, Kulwant Khejroliya, and Saransh Jain each claiming two wickets.
Brief Scores: At Indore: MP 171 and 251 in 78.1 overs (Shubham Sharma 73; Himanshu Chauhan 4/69). Delhi 205 and 131 all out in 53.5 overs (Yash Dhull 33, Vaibhav Kandpal 49 not out; Kulwant Khejroliya 2/30). MP beat Delhi by 86 runs for six points.
At Dehradun: Puducherry: 204 and 131 all out beat Uttarakhand: 123 all out and 157 all out (Yuvraj Chaudhary 46, Kunal Chandela 45; Gaurav Yadav 7/53) by 55 runs.
At Dharamsala: Baroda: 482 beat Himachal Pradesh: 184 and 280 all out in 70.3 overs (Gurvinder Singh 59, Nikhil Gangta 58, Akash Vashist 43; Bhargav Bhatt 4/32, Akash Singh 3/86) by an innings 18 runs.
At Cuttack: Odisha: 130 and 198 all out in 67 overs (Sandeep Pattnaik 100; Aquib Nabi 4/73) vs Jammu & Kashmir: 180 and 72/4 in 23.2 overs (Abdul Samad 24 batting; Rajesh Mohanty 3/29). J&K are chasing a target of 149 and they need 77 more runs to win on the fourth day.
English (US) ·