Delhi’s Manan Sharma was the pick of the bowlers on a character-less wicket at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium to pack the visiting Haryana at 195 on day 1 of their Group A Ranji Trophy encounuter.
The left-arm spinner bagged five wickets off 57 runs and fittingly closed out the innings by dismissing Jayant Yadav with Nitish Rana picking up the catch.
While the spotlight was on Haryana captain Virender Sehwag to turn on his usual ferocious hitting against his former team, the day belonged to Manan. Viru on the other hand went for 37 after being run out by Ishant Sharma.
In reply, at close of play, Delhi were 22 for no loss with Unmukt Chand (9) and skipper Gautam Gambhir (13) at the crease.
Put into bat, Haryana were never in command of the proceedings and were in a bit of bother at 85-5 before Sachin Rana (24) and Nitin Saini (32) steadied the ship — albeit momentarily. Jayant (41) also played a crucial role in extending the time at the crease for the visitors.
Showing glimpses of his vintage self, Sehwag belted the ball all around the park, hitting 5 fours and a six in his 61-ball stay. His two trademark cuts in and a six off Manan were a treat for the handful of supporters that cheered him on.
The entertainment though was short-lived as Sehwag ran himself out when he was unable to drag his bat at the non-strikers end and Ishant Sharma did not miss the furniture.
Brief Scores:Haryana: 195 all out (Yadav 41; Manan 5-57, Ishant 2-29) lead Delhi: 22/0 by 173 runs.
ElSEWHERE:Rajasthan: 102/3 vs Bengal; Assam: 92 lead Odisha: 52/5 by 37 runs; Karnataka: 298/6 vs Vidarbha; Tamil Nadu: 249/6 vs Mumbai; Gujarat: 290/3 vs Punjab; Railways: 316/5 vs UP; Baroda: 234/7 vs AP; Jharkhand: 202 lead Kerala: 3/1 by 199 runs; Hyderabad: 252/3 vs HP; Tripura: 61 trail Goa: 161/5 by 100 runs; J&K: 85 trail Services: 152/4 by 67 runs.