Delhi survived a mighty scare before their lower order, led by Nitish Rana and Sumit Narwal, saved the day with some gritty batting as they beat Rajasthan by two wickets in their Group B Ranji Trophy match here on Thursday.
Resuming the final day on 51 for 3, needing 102 runs more to win, Delhi suffered a batting collapse but finally crossed the target of 153 with Rana (31) and Narwal (27 not out) playing some sensible cricket to take their side home at the Krishnagiri Stadium.
The day's start for Delhi was a horrible one with overnight batsman Vikas Tokas (10) being bowled by Pankaj Singh in the fifth over of the day with the addition of just five runs to his individual overnight score. The score was 62 for 4 at that stage.
The other overnight batsman, opener Shikhar Dhawan, on a comeback trail after recovering from a broken finger, was out three overs later on individual score of 49. He added 14 runs today and when he was out Delhi were tottering at 76 for 5, still needing another 77 for a win.
Delhi are now at fourth spot in the Group B table with 18 points from six matches. Only three teams from Group B will qualify for the knock-out stage.
TN earn three points
Tamil Nadu earned three points from their Group A Ranji Trophy match against Punjab on the basis of first innings lead in a game that ended in a tame draw on the final day here.
Punjab had earlier conceded a 70-run first-innings lead, thanks to Kaushik Gandhi's career-best 164.
In the second innings, Punjab scored at 4.74 runs per over before declaring the innings at 375 for five.
Mandeep Singh hit a century, scoring 128 off 160 balls to anchor the innings. Uday Kaul (65) and skipper Gurkeerat Singh (55 off 45) also chipped in with important contributions, before Manpreet Gony hammered an unbeaten 66 off 26 balls. Chasing 306, Tamil Nadu reached 103 for one in 37 overs with Abhinav Mukund remaining unbeaten on 67 and Kaushik Gandhi on 21. The duo put on an unbroken 78 runs together for the second wicket.