Delhi dismissed Punjab for just 74 runs in the first innings on day one of their Group A Ranji Trophy tie at the Roshanara Club ground here on Sunday. On a hazy day when only 42.4 overs could be bowled as play was stopped several times due to bad light, Ashish Nehra-led Delhi pace unit made the most of the overcast conditions and green-top pitch to give their team's chances to qualify for the knockout round a boost.
At stumps, Delhi were 46 for the loss of Gautam Gambhir (10) and Vaibhav Rawal (8). Unmukt Chand (21 not out) and Mithun Manhas (6 not out) were at the crease.
Opting to bowl first, Delhi's all-pace attack thrived on Punjab batsmen's poor shot-selection and lack of application on a bowling-friendly pitch.
Nehra, who took nine wickets in the previous match against Vidarbha at the same ground, once again struck a probing line and length and moved the ball both ways to grab four wickets on Sunday. He was well supported by Parvinder Awana (3 for 20), Rajat Bhatia (2 for 4) and Sumit Narwal (1 for 19) from the other end.
As the ball darted around, the clueless Punjab batsmen failed to rise up to the challenge and meekly surrendered in front of Delhi bowlers. Yuvraj Singh (0) may be excused for getting a debatable leg before wicket (lBW) decision, but all other batsmen threw their wickets without showing any intent to fight.
At one point, Punjab were nine wickets down for just 35 runs. However, a cameo by the last man to bat Manpreet Gony (29) took Punjab's score to 74 when he tried to heave Awana over the ropes but ended up in the hands of long-off fielder.
"Poor batting by our batsmen. We always knew that the conditions were going to be tough but we there can't be any excuse for getting out on 74. It's not acceptable whether you are playing for Punjab or any other team. But we still have hope that we can make a comeback otherwise there would be no point in the contest," Punjab coach Bhupinder Singh (Sr) said.
When Delhi came in to bat, the ball was still darting around as Gony used his height and pace well to extract swing and bounce and, in the sixth over of the innings, removed skipper Gambhir, who got a reprieve in his previous over when he was dropped by his counterpart Mandeep Singh in the slip. However, Unmukt stayed put and braved the difficult conditions.
As the hazy conditions are expected to stay for the next few days, Delhi would try to take as big a lead in the first innings as they can. It would be interesting to see how the two teams, knowing that the full quota of overs would not be possible, approach this match in the coming days.
Brief Scores
Punjab: 74 in 26.4 overs (Manpreet Gony 29, Yuvraj Singh 0; Ashish Nehra 4/31, Parvinder Awana 3/20, Rajat Bhatia 2/4) lead Delhi: 46 for 2 in 16 overs (Unmukt Chand batting 21, Gautam Gambhir 10; Manpreet Gony 1/17, Siddharth Kaul 1/19) by 28 runs.