Delhi suffered an innings and 214-run defeat at the hands of Saurashtra inside three days as the hosts earned a bonus point in a Ranji Trophy Group B match here on Thursday.
With Saurashtra, led by seam bowler Jaydev Unadkat, finally declaring the innings at 574 for eight, the visitors were left chasing a mountain of runs — 441, to be precise — to make the hosts bat again.
Delhi's spineless batting, which managed just 133 runs in the first innings, did come up with a slightly better display in the second innings but it was not enough given the enormity of the task.
Yash Dhull's side delayed the inevitable for a while before they were done in by the guile of Yuvrajsinh Dodiya. That they managed to score 227 on Thursday was largely due to the efforts of top-order batters Ayush Badoni and Hrithik Shokeen, who had contributions of 40 and 51 runs respectively.
Dodiya emerged the unlikely hero for Saurashtra as the 22-year-old off-spinner grabbed his first five-wicket haul in only his second first-class game to spell the demise of Delhi's batting.
Delhi are staring at Ranji relegation, having so far earned just two points from four games. With three more rounds to go — and given the sorry state of the team — avoiding relegation would be a tall order for Dhull's side.
K’taka seize advantage
Bengaluru: S J Nikin Jose's 67-run knock played a huge role in Karnataka securing the first innings lead on the third day of their Group C match against Chhattisgarh.
Resuming at the overnight 202 for 1, Karnataka skipper Mayank Agarwal fell to Sumit Ruikar for 117, adding only 15 runs to his score.
There was a period when the visiting team bounced back strongly and kept the scoring in check. The Chhattisgarh bowlers hit back with wickets at regular intervals to reduce the home team to 287 for 6 and a sniff of a first innings lead.
The highly-rated 22-year old Jose (134 balls, 8 fours, 1 six) then got together with K Gowtham (18) for a 33-run stand for the seventh wicket to take Karnataka past the opponent's first innings score of 311.
Jose added 26 runs with last man Vidwath Kaverappa, who did not make a single run, and ensured that the team went ahead by 55 runs.
In the second innings, Chhattisgarh lost their openers without a run on the board as Kaverappa and V Koushik removed Avnish Singh and A G Tiwary.
Mantri slams ton
Indore: Wicketkeeper-batter Himanshu Mantri hit a fine century (126, 194 balls, 16 fours, 2 sixes) in the second innings to help defending champions Madhya Pradesh make 257 for 5 declared and set Vidarbha a target of 407 in their Group D Ranji Trophy match.
Earlier in the day, the MP bowlers polished off the Vidarbha tail with the addition of just 13 more runs to their overnight score of 147.
Pace bowler Avesh Khan added the scalps of Nachiket Bhute (12) and Lalit Yadav (4) to finish with a seven-wicket haul.
Vidarbha ended the third day at 13 for 1 with Avesh Khan accounting for S R Ramaswamy (6), having him trapped
LBW.
Meanwhile in Valsad, Punjab thrashed Gujarat by 380 runs. At Surat, Railways crushed Jammu and Kashmir by an innings and 73 runs to pick up seven points.