Chandigarh: Opener Shivam Bhambri made a mincemeat of spinners on a turner as Chandigarh shocked seven-time champions Delhi by nine wickets in a group D match to take a giant step towards clinching a spot in the Ranji Trophy knock-outs.
Chandigarh are on top of group D with 19 points from four games and the defeat put Delhi in a bit of a spot as they are now placed fourth with 11 points from four games.
Delhi have three matches left against Jharkhand, Saurashtra and Railways respectively with the first one being a home game.
On a track where Chandigarh’s Nishunk Birla got 12 wickets, Delhi’s spin troika of Shivank Vashist (0/48), Sumit Mathur (1/34) and Hrithik Shokeen (0/50) were found wanting with Chandigarh chasing down the target of 203 in 40.2 overs.
Bhambri followed his first innings 80 with an unbeaten 100 (130 balls) in what turned out to be a cakewalk of a chase. He added 130 for the opening wicket with Arsalan Khan (68 off 81 balls) and another 74 with veteran Manan Vohra (24 not out).
On a pitch where Delhi batters struggled, Chandigarh batters blasted 17 fours and nine sixes in all — half a dozen of those being hit by Bhambri, who completed team’s victory and his own milestone off Shokeen’s eighth over.
Chandigarh had their nose ahead when they finished third day’s play at 46 for no loss and with 157 to get on final day, it would have required far better effort from the two left-arm spinners Mathur and Vashist, who bowled too many loose deliveries to surrender the match.
Off-spinner Shokeen also failed to hit the right length.
If Delhi fail to qualify for the knock-outs, this match would come back to haunt them as non-selection of a gritty left-hander like Jonty Sidhu at the expense of Khsitiz Sharma would pose some uncomfortable questions.
Himmat Singh’s form and captaincy is also under scanner as Yash Dhull could once again get back into leadership role.
Brief Scores:
In Chandigarh: Delhi 276 and 250. Chandigarh 324 and (target 203) 204/1 in 40.2 overs (Shivam Bhambri 100 not out, Arsalan Khan 68). Chandigarh won by 9 wickets. Points: Chandigarh 6 Delhi 0.
In Ranchi: Jharkhand 306 and 283 (Anukul Roy 90, Sharandeep Singh 73, DS Jadeja 4/15).
Saurashtra 386 and (target 204) 69/1. Match Drawn. Points Saurashtra 3 Jharkhand 1.
In Raipur: Chattisgarh 500/9 decl and 129/5 (Sanjeet Desai 51 not out, Yuvraj Singh 3/51).
Railways 351 (Suraj Ahuja 135, Vivek Singh 86, Ravi Kiran 5/56). Match Drawn.
Points: Chattisgarh 3. Railways 1.
In Guwahati: Tamil Nadu 338 and 217/2 (N Jagadeesan 118, PR Paul 68). Assam 445. Match Drawn
Points: TN 1: Assam 3.
