Ranji Trophy 2024-25: Delhi’s bowlers ensure dominant win over Railways, as Kohli doesn’t get to bat again
It was Delhi's second win of the season but they are out of knockouts race from Elite Group D with Saurashtra and Tamil Nadu have qualified with 25 points
New Delhi: Off-spinner Shivam Sharma grabbed five wickets as Delhi ended their Ranji Trophy league campaign on a high, sealing a bonus point win over Railways here on Saturday.
Resuming the day at 334 for seven, Delhi ended up with 374 all out in the first session to take a 133-run lead. Railways batters played some reckless shots that expedited the outcome of the match.
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They were all out for 114 in 30.4 overs in the afternoon session to suffer an innings defeat, handing Delhi seven points. It also denied the crowd a chance to see batting icon Virat Kohli in action for a second time in this match.
For Delhi, Sumit Mathur (86), who was batting on 78 overnight, could not reach the three-figure mark as Kohli’s conqueror on day two, Himanshu Sangwan, ended with four wickets.
It was Delhi’s second win of the season but they are out of knockouts race from Elite Group D with Saurashtra and Tamil Nadu have qualified with 25 points. Delhi logged 21 points.
The match had attracted national attention because of one man – Kohli who returned to Ranji Trophy after 13 years. The spectators were robbed of the opportunity to see Kohli in the second innings as Railways batters self-destructed on a slow and low surface.
The former India captain himself would not have minded another hit in the middle after managing six off 15 balls on day two. It was a procession after Delhi left-arm pacer Siddhant Sharma trapped Suraj Ahuja with an inswinger.
His opening partner Vivek Singh (12) hit a crisp cover drive off Siddhant before an over-aggressive approach got the better of him as he stepped out to offie Shivam only to be caught at backward point. A little later Mohammed Saif (31 off 31 balls) also charged down the wicket against Shivam but could not get past the mid-on fielder.
Sidhant removed Suraj Ahuja with an inswinger. Even Delhi were not expecting the game to end this early but the opposition batters had other plans. Navdeep Saini castled Bhargav Merai to make it 57 for four before Railways’ star batter in the first innings Upendra Yadav (19) perished off an incoming ball from Money Grewal.
The game was over when number 10 Kunal Yadav was dismissed by Delhi skipper Ayush Badoni as number 11 Anchit Yadav did not come out to bat. Kohli, who returned to domestic cricket after 13 years, also spent a long time in the dressing room with his teammates, shaking hands and posing for pictures. The star cricketer also dropped into Railways dressing room to meet the opposition players.
Saurashtra qualify after emphatic win over Assam
Saurashtra qualified for the knockouts with an innings and 144-run win over Assam in Rajkot. Following on, Assam were bowled out for 166 in their second innings after managing 164 in their first essay. Saurashtra batted the opposition out of the game by scoring 474 in their first innings.
Resuming their second innings at 67/1, Assam could only bat for 36.4 overs with left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja taking a five-wicket haul, lifting his match tally to nine.
Saurashtra ended with 25 points from seven games after their third bonus point win on the trot. Ravindra Jadeja did not need to bowl in the game as Dharmendrasinh and Co ran through Assam on a turner.
Utkarsh shines in Jharkhand’s 44-run win over TN
Jharkhand recorded their second win of the season after getting past Tamil Nadu by 44 runs on day three.
Utkarsh Singh was declared Man of the Match for his stellar all-round performances in the game . He took 6 wickets for 30 runs in the first innings before picking one in the second essay. Utkarsh also top scored in Jharkhand’s second innings with 35 valuable runs in a low scoring match.
Brief scores: Delhi 374 in 106.4 overs bt Railways 241 and 114 all out in 30.5 overs (Mohammed Saidf31; Shivam Sharma 5/33); Saurashtra 474 in 117 overs bt Assam 164 & 166 in 36.4 overs (Sumit Ghadigaonkar 40; Dharmendra Sinh Jadeja 5/50); Jharkhand 185 & 154 bt Tamil Nadu 106 all out and 189 all out in 55.4 overs. (Mohamed Ali 44; Manishi 4/49).
