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 today.
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.
But Rana added 24 runs with Milind Kumar (10) and another 37 with Narwal, before being run out. Rana hit five fours in his 57-ball innings.
Narwal then batted with the tail to take Delhi to victory. He remained unbeaten on 27 from 38 balls from which he hit four boundaries, as Delhi reached 156 for 8 from 41.4 overs.
Delhi secured all the six points for the win while Rajasthan got none.
Rajasthan's Amitkumar Gautam, playing his second first-class match, was adjudged Player of the Match. He scored 106 in the first innings to notch up his maiden first-class ton.
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.
Brief Scores:
Rajasthan: 238 & 221
Delhi: 307 & 156/8 in 41.4 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 49, Nitish Rana 31, Sumit Narwal 27 not out; Pankaj Singh 2/47, TM Ul-Haq 2/28).
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