Delhi, after getting brickbats during the early rounds of the Ranji Trophy season, are showing huge signs of improvement, with the hosts now in prime position to defeat powerhouse Mumbai in their Group B match here on Thursday.
At stumps on day three of the Ranji Trophy game at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here, Delhi had reduced Mumbai to 168 for 9 in the second innings, with young right-arm quick Divij Mehra — playing only his second first-class game — taking a five-wicket haul to leave the visitors, led by Ajinkya Rahane, in tatters.
Mumbai have a lead of just 92 runs and, given their sorry state, Delhi could be left to chase a score of 100 or thereabout to eke out their first win of the season on Friday.
Delhi, who had taken the first-innings lead on Wednesday, closing the day at 316 for 7 in reply to Mumbai’s 293, further cemented their position on Thursday by adding 53 runs to their overnight total. Their innings culminated at 369.
Pranshu Vijayran scored a quick 37 as Delhi took charge with a handy 76-run lead.
Divij then struck immediately, wiping out the top order comprising of Prithvi Shaw (16), Musheer Khan (5), Armaan Jaffer (10) and first-innings centurion Sarfaraz Khan (0) to reduce Mumbai to 34/4 in the 10th over.
Skipper Rahane did try to rebuild the innings but his dismissal at 51 by seamer Vijayran put Mumbai in a huge spot of bother.
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Tail-enders Royston Dias (0 not out) and Tanush Kotian (48 not out) were at the crease at stumps on day three.
For Delhi, who are currently placed seventh in Group B with five points as against Mumbai, who are second on 23 points, it is redemption time after their campaign went into a downward spiral the day the domestic season started.
The hosts, who are out of contention for a quarterfinal berth, could lift the gloom somewhat by inflicting a crushing defeat on the record 41-time Ranji champions on Friday.
Brief scores: At Delhi: Mumbai 293 and 168 for 9 in 59 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 51, Shams Mulani 30, Tanush Kotian batting 48; Divij Mehra 5/29, Pranshu Vijayran 2/40) vs Delhi 369 in 101.1 overs (Hrithik Shokeen 45, Vaibhav Rawal 114, Himmat Singh 85, Pranshu Vijayran 37; Tushar Deshpande 4/111, Shams Mulani 3/90).
At Rajkot: Andhra 415 and 164 for 7 decl in 45 overs (Abhishek Reddy 33, Hanuma Vihari 37, Karan Shinde 50 n.o.; Jaydev Unadkat 2/17) vs Saurashtra 237 in 63.2 overs (Sheldon Jackson 64, Arpit Vasavada 40, Samarth Vyas 51; Lalith Mohan 5/71) and 10 for 1 in 2 overs.
At Chennai: Tamil Nadu 540 vs Assam 266 in 100.2 overs (Riyan Parag 48, Swarupam Purkayastha 74; Ajith Ram 4/68, R. Sai Kishore 3/67) and (f/o) 66 for no loss in 34 overs (Rahul Hazarika batting 36).
At Pune: Maharashtra 385 and 30 for 1 in 2.5 overs (Taranjitsingh Dhillon 30 n.o.) beat Hyderabad 192 and (f/o) 219 in 53.1 overs (Tanmay Agarwal 43, Chandan Sahani 59; Rajvardhan Hangargekar 3/66, Satyajeet Bachhav 3/32) by nine wickets.
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