Confidence is the fuel that can take you to distances but you need experience to know how to use that fuel to go farther. Jammu and Kashmir cricket team, ecstatic after their rare quarterfinal appearance in the Ranji Trophy, showed enough confidence to challenge star studded Delhi in their backyard on Thursday but ran out of steam by the time their innings entered the last lap.
Chasing 256-run target set by the defending champions and hosts Delhi, J&K got off to an excellent start posting 71 for one in 10 overs of powerplay. It was the best start they could have expected from their top-order, especially on a pitch with dual pace and bounce. However, as the game progressed, J&K lost their grip on the match and couldn’t even last for 50 overs.
Delhi dismissed J&K for 218 in 46th over to win by 38 runs in the opening match of the north zone one-day league for the Vijay Hazare Trophy at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Thursday. Shubham Khajuria (46), Hardeep Singh (45), Adil Reshi (36) and skipper Parvez Rasool (30) contributed with bat for J&K. “After that sort of start, I thought we were going to win it easily. We lost wickets quickly in the middle overs,” said Rasool after the match.
It, however, reconfirmed that the days of domination of bigger teams are nearing its end. Smaller teams like J&K have improved their standards to become a threat for erstwhile table toppers like Delhi.
And the improvement hasn’t just come in one department. J&K bowled and fielded equally well. Despite a 99-run opening stand between Delhi openers Gautam Gambhir (58), who scored his 54th list A half-century, and Unmukt Chand (42), they didn’t let them post a big total.
After Rasool provided twin breakthroughs claiming Chand and Gambhir in consecutive overs, left-arm spinner Waseem Raza (3 for 58) crippled the middle-order with the wickets of Virender Sehwag (15), Mithun Manhas (10) and Rajat Bhatia (16).
At one point, Delhi were struggling to reach 200 runs. But, thanks to late-overs assault by lower-order batsmen, they managed a fighting total. Wicket-keeper Puneet Bisht, who made a return to the team after being dropped from Ranji Trophy side, made the big difference with his 39-run knock.
Brief Scores
Delhi: 256/8 (Gautam Gambhir 58, Unmukt Chand 42, Waseem Raza 3/58, Parveez Rasool 2/52) beat J&K: 218 (Shubham Khajuria 46, Hardeep Singh 45) by 38 runs.
Points: Delhi 4, J&K 0