Shorey, Bhati Lead Delhi To Easy Win, Gambhir Scores 19

The home side, Delhi tasted the first success of the year against Haryana in a one-sided affair in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2018.

The Pradeep Sangwan led side restricted Haryana on a mere score of 153/6 and then chased it down easily to win the first game of the tournament.

After opting to bowl first, Delhi had a great start as Navdeep Saini uprooted the stumps of Haryana opener,  Harshal Patel’s. It was the only success which Delhi got in first 14 overs as the left-handed pair if Shubham Rohilla and Chaitanya Bishnoi started churning out runs.

However, Delhi bowlers weren’t giving them a chance to score easy runs. The batsmen were finding it difficult to lift the run rate, and the home bowlers were making merry.

Haryana scored 44 runs in last five overs to set a target of 154 for Delhi. Bishnoi played an innings of 65 for Haryana while Rohilla scored 44.

Delhi opener, Rishabh Pant, after showing positive signs was bowled by a superb delivery from Harshal Patel that made contact with the timber. Gautam Gambhir was looking a bit rusty in the middle, and after surviving a close run out call, he got deceived by Ashish Hooda’s delivery and was trapped in front of the stumps on 19.

From their, Dhruv Shorey (59* off 44) and Nitish Rana (39 off 26) played the crucial role for Delhi and shared 72 runs for the fourth wicket to put Delhi on the brink of a victory.

Rana looked to finish the game early and got caught by Rajat Paliwal at deep mid-wicket off Rahul Tewatia. Lalit Yadav (19* off 10) along with Shorey ensured that the team crosses the finishing line without any hiccup.

Dhruv Shorey was the standout player of the day as his innings of 59* included four sixes and two fours. His sixes were a joy to watch as none of it landed in the playing area and only found a place in the stands.

Along with Shorey, Subodh Bhati too shone for Delhi as he bowled a superb spell of 4-0-25-3. He gave just six runs in the final over of Haryana’s innings and scalped two wickets in that.

Brief scores: Delhi 154/3 (Dhruv Shorey 59*, Nitish Rana 39; Ashish Hooda 1-16) defeat Haryana 153/6 (Chaitanya Bishnoi 65, Shubham Rohilla 44; Subodh Bhati 3-25) by seven wickets. 

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