Ranji Trophy: Delhi Recover to Score 264 Against Himachal Pradesh

Skipper Himmat Singh made a quick-fire 60 off 53 balls before the tail wagged to take Delhi to 264 all out against Himachal Pradesh on day one of their Ranji Trophy game on Friday.

Pacer Vinay Galetiya took a five-wicket haul on a helping pitch and his new ball partner Vaibhav Arora struck thrice in the Group D contest.

Himachal Pradesh needed to bat 10 overs before stumps.

They reached 24 for one at close of play with rookie Delhi pacer Himanshu Chauhan trapping Prashant Chopra in front of the stumps.

Himachal would have been two down if wicketkeeper Anuj Rawat had taken a sharp chance offered by Praveen Thakur.

Himachal had put Delhi in to bat and made most of the conditions in the first session. At 20 for three, Delhi were staring at another batting collapse this season but recovered to post a decent total courtesy Himmat, Ayush Badoni (51 off 80), tailenders Priyanshu Vijayran (37 off 65) and Siddhant Sharma (36 off 37).

U-19 World Cup winning captain Yash Dhull was the third batter to be dismissed in the morning session. For someone who has not been able to score a half-century thus far in the season, Dhull (14) played away from his body to be caught behind.

His opening partner Anuj Rawat (6) was Galetiya’s first victim. Not sure whether to play or leave, Rawat ended up getting caught at second slip.

The 87-run stand between Himmat and Badoni stabilised Delhi’s innings. Himmat was on the offensive from the get go, smashing 10 fours and a six.

Jonty Sidhu put up plenty of resistance, consuming 106 balls for his 28. Kshitiz Sharma, whose place in the side has been questioned time and again, was out first out ball.

Siddhant played some bold strokes to take Delhi past 250.

Brief Scores:

Delhi 264 all out in 71 overs (Himmat Singh 60; Ayush Badoni 51; Vinay Galetiya 5/66) versus Himachal Pradesh.

At Cuttack: Uttarakhand 232/3 in 90 overs (Vaibhav Bhatt 101 batting, Jiwanjot Singh 90) versus Odisha.

At Indore: Madhya Pradesh 314/6 in 85 overs (Himanshu Mantri 111; Akash Singh 3/65) versus Baroda.

At Puducherry: Puducherry 172 all out in 55.1 overs (Paras Dogra 58; Abid Mushtaq 5/64, Vanshaj Sharma 5/74) verus J&K.