Pacemen tighten Delhi's grip

Fri, Nov 6 05:38 AM

The seamers bowled at good length, pitching their deliveries further up to get more swing, and the slip cordon stood with soft hands that absorbed anything offered in their vicinity. Delhi were just sticking to the basics, but it was all that was needed on a true Motibaug wicket in their Ranji Trophy opener.

Hosts Baroda showed some flashes of brilliance, but overall their batting effort was only a shade above average as they ended Day Three on 319 for eight, still 122 runs from the 441 required to avoid a follow-on. At stumps, the durable Rajesh Pawar was at the crease on 42, compiled over 117 minutes with five boundaries, and Ajitesh Argal was batting on six.

For Delhi, who may still be ruing the lack of time to force an outright win, Sumit Narhwal and Parwinder Awana were standout bowlers. Awana hit the deck hard to generate some serious bounce and picked up two wickets for 54, while the off-the-pitch movement complemented the natural swing of Narhwal, who returned with figures of three for 70.

Little Punit Bisht was kept interested throughout the day — the Delhi wicketkeeper started his collection of six dismissals on Thursday when Baroda skipper Connor Williams nicked Narhwal in the day's third over. Azhar Bilakhia fell early, too, when Shikhar Dhawan dived to his right for a brilliant catch at second slip to give Narhwal a double strike. The experienced Satyajit Parab also fell before lunch — to Rajat Bhatia's friendly seam-up bowling — as the hosts were running out of hope at 128-3 after the first session.

Jacob Martin and Rakesh Solanki tried to restore the chase in a 62-run stand for the fourth wicket, with Martin playing a few delectable straight-drives. But the 37-year-old, who is playing his last Ranji season, was lured by Narhwal into a false drive. With an open field in front of him, Martin edged straight to Bisht, who took a relatively simple catch compared to his diving effort that got rid of Parab.

With Baroda still 459 behind the Delhi total, Yusuf Pathan walked in. His brand of cricket instantly brought 22 runs off a single Narhwal over, including four boundaries and a six. Baroda needed more than a 19-ball 32 from Yusuf on Thursday, but that's all they got as Sangwan got his outside edge with a delivery that was slightly short of length.

Pinal Shah and Solanki attempted to rebuild, but it was only a matter of time by then. Solanki's departure for 55 brought tea, and later, part-time off-spinner Yogesh Nagar sent Shah packing for a laborious 63. Finally, Awana returned to grab the day's last wicket when he had Murtuja Vahora caught by Bisht behind the stumps.

Brief scores: Delhi 591; Baroda 319/8 (Pinal Shah 63, Rakesh Solanki 55, Jacob Martin 44; Narhwal 3/70, Awana 2/64)

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