Ishant Sharma's five-for helped Delhi bounce back strongly as the hosts took a significant 98-run lead against Haryana on day two of their Ranji Trophy tie at the Roshanara Club ground here on Friday.
It was an impressive bowling performance by Delhi bowlers as they dismissed Haryana for just 138 runs in 55 overs in the first innings in reply to Delhi's 201. Ishant (5 for 29) and Rajat Bhatia (4 for 32) did the most of the damage.
At the stumps, Delhi were 35 for no loss in the second innings with Gautam Gambhir (26) and Unmukt Chand (9) in the crease.
Ishant, who was just dropped from the national side, used the helpful conditions at the Roshanara to the fullest. He made a strong case for his return, whenever the selectors, who were conspicuous by their absence from an important match where three international players and a budding youngster are participating, sit down to select the team for the next tournament Indian team plays.
Ishant, being the most experienced bowler in the side, led the Delhi bowling unit in the true sense of the word as he provided two early breakthroughs with the new ball to put Haryana on the backfoot.
The lanky pacer then came back to break a burgeoning seventh wicket partnership (46 runs) between Sachin Rana and Joginder Sharma and also finished off the nagging tail.
In between his two spells, Bhatia took care of wicket-taking job with a brilliant mix of in and out-cutters that was a far cry from Ishant's pace and bounce but was equally effective.
Other bowlers, Parvinder Awana (1 for 32) and Pawan Suyal, who bowled well but was unlucky to not have gotten any wicket, too played an important part in Haryana's demolition by not letting the pressure lid off from the other end.
Though the hosts Delhi have an upper hand at the moment, the match is far from over as the two full innings are yet to be played and the pitch still has a lot of juice in it to assist pacers.
Brief Scores
Delhi: 201 and 35/0 (Gautam Gambhir batting 26, Unmukt Chand batting 9) lead Haryana: 138 in 55 overs (Joginder Sharma 35, Ishant Sharma 5/29, Rajat Bhatia 4/32) by 98 runs.