New Delhi, Dec 30 (PTI) Veteran left-hander Vaibhav Rawal frustrated Tamil Nadu bowlers for close to four hours as his unbeaten 95 off 142 balls saved Delhi from an outright defeat in a Ranji Trophy Group B match that concluded here on Friday.
Tamil Nadu got three points from the game by virtue of first innings lead of 124 runs.
Delhi on the fourth and final day batted for more than 70 overs (71.5 overs to be precise with 8 on day 3) as they were all out for 262 in their second innings.
Tamil Nadu required 139 in a maximum possible 18 overs but the fading December light in a cold Delhi winter allowed only 6 overs to be bowled in which the visitors scored 54 losing three wickets.
Sai Sudharshan (24 off 19 balls), in another short stay, hit a couple of sixes to show why he is rated so highly.
But the chase was an improbable one in the final session as Delhi skipper Yash Dhull cleverly spread all his nine fielders (save bowler and keeper) to cut down on boundaries and making life difficult for Tamil Nadu batters.
In an act of gamesmanship, pacers — right arm quick Harshit Rana (1/27 in 3 overs) and left-arm seamer Kuldip Yadav (2/27 in 3 overs) also wasted time, either faking cramps or tying shoelaces or not delivering the ball even after completing the action.
They changed field after every delivery increasing the frustration of the visiting team batters, who all perished trying to hit sixes.
But no credit will be enough for Rawal, who was playing only his 20th first-class match in 10 years since his debut in 2012.
He hit 13 boundaries and used all his experiences of being in and around the Delhi team since the time of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir to bail Delhi out.
Rawal hit 13 boundaries while in-form Dhruv Shorey (70, 115 balls) completed 500 runs for the season in the third match itself.
Right-handed Shorey and southpaw Rawal also added 70 runs between them for the fourth wicket as Washington Sundar emerged the best bowler for Tamil Nadu with figures of 4/43.
Rawal was unlucky as tail-ender Kuldip had to face only two deliveries and Washington coming from round the wicket fired one in with the angle and the batter shouldered arms to get bowled. Rawal wasn’t amused on missing out on a third first-class hundred and he did let his younger partner know what he felt.
In the end, the nearly 60 overs (59.1 overs) lost during the first three days of play due to bad light cost Tamil Nadu full points.
Brief Scores In Delhi: Delhi 303 and 262 in 79.5 overs (Vaibhav Rawal 95, Dhruv Shorey 70; Washington Sundar 4/43) vs Tamil Nadu 427 and (target 139) 54/3 in 6 overs. Points: Delhi 1 TN 3 In Mumbai: Saurashtra 289 and 220 vs Mumbai 230 and (Target 280) 231 in 74 overs (Prithvi Shaw 68; Parth Bhut 4/56, Yuvraj Dodiya 4/86). Point: Mumbai 0; Saurashtra 6.
In Hyderabad: Assam 205 and 252 vs Hyderabad 208 and (Target 250) 231 in 61.5 overs (Tanmay Agarwal 123; Riyan Parag 4/93). Points: Hyderabad 0; Assam 6 In Vizianagaram: Maharashtra 200 and 250 vs Andhra 211 and (target 240) 108 all out (Hanuma Vihari 36; Pradeep Dadhe 6/20).
Source: PTI News
