Guwahati, Dec 21 (PTI) Dhruv Shorey struck a brilliant unbeaten double century as he guided Delhi to 439 all out on day two of their Ranji Trophy Group B match against Assam here on Wednesday.
The 30-year-old opener continued from where he had left off on Tuesday, compiling his runs quickly till he finally ran out of partners at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium.
At close of play, Assam were 158 for four and trailing Delhi by 281 runs.
Shorey, who was unbeaten on 139 on Tuesday, finally ended up making 252 not out, with his innings studded with 34 boundaries and two sixes.
The Delhi cricketer didn’t sacrifice the run-rate as he approached the double-century mark, scoring his runs off 315 deliveries at a healthy strike rate of 80.
This was Shorey’s highest first-class score in 45 matches, with his previous best being 145. The double century will do more good to his already healthy batting average of 48.49.
Starting day two on 271 for seven, Shorey first lost overnight partner Vikas Mishra, who added just 11 runs to his score before being dismissed by Assam’s left-arm pace bowler Mrinmoy Dutta for 22 runs.
Sensing he would ultimately run out of partners, Shorey took the majority of the strike, scoring runs at a brisk pace as Delhi crossed the 400-run mark, thanks to the veteran batter’s 91-run partnership with last man Harshit Rana (24).
Assam started their innings on a dismal note, losing skipper Kunal Saikia for 12 while Rahul Hazarika was retired hurt on four. Soon Riyan Parag was dismissed for 10, while Sibsankar Roy too departed for a duck, leaving the hosts tottering on 60 for four.
Rishav Das (71 batting) was then involved in the rescue act with Gokul Sharma (39 batting) and the duo ensured Assam closed the day on 158 for four in 44 overs.
Brief scores: At Guwahati: Delhi 439 all out in 110.1 overs (Dhruv Shorey 252 not out, Vaibhav Rawal 43; Mrinmoy Dutta 3/79, Sidharth Sarmah 3/53) vs Assam 158 for 4 in 44 overs (Rishav Das 71 batting, Gokul Sharma 39 batting; Prasun Vijayran 3/31). Assam trail by 281 runs.
At Coimbatore: Andhra 297 all out in 100.1 overs (Abhishek Reddy 85, Ricky Bhui 68, Karan Shinde 55; Sandeep Warrier 3/64, R Sai Kishore 3/73) vs Tamil Nadu 273 for 4 in 77 overs (Sai Sudharsan 113, Baba Aparajith 88). Tamil Nadu trail by 24 runs.
At Mumbai: Mumbai 651 for 6 decl in 127.2 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 162, Suryakumar Yadav 90, Ajinkya Rahane 204, Sarfaraz Khan 126 not out; Katikeya Kak 3/106) vs Hyderabad 173 for 6 in 50 overs (Tanmay Agarwal 40, Rohit Rayudu 72 batting; Shams Mulani 5/76). Hyderabad trail by 478 runs.
At Rajkot: Maharashtra 472 for 7 in 173 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 65, Naushad Shaikh 101, Ankit Bawne 96, Saurabh Nawale 72, Ashay Palkar 51 batting) vs Saurashtra.
Source: PTI News
