HP tail wags as Delhi miss chance of enforcing follow-on

A gritty show from the Himachal Pradesh lower-order did not allow Delhi to enforce the follow-on in a Group B match of the Ranji Trophy here Tuesday.

At stumps on day two, Himachal Pradesh were 216 for 8 in reply to Delhi's first innings score of 317.

Delhi captain Nitish Rana will certainly feel that an opportunity to enforce follow on was lost after HP were reduced to 58 for 6.

Rishi Dhawan (64, 114 balls) and Ekant Sen (46, 71 balls) added 95 runs for the visitors, much to the frustration of the home team.

Mayank Dagar (21 batting) and Pankaj Jaswal (23 batting) added 35 runs for the ninth wicket to give the total some semblance of respectability.

 

Left arm spinner Varun Sood (4/53) was the pick of the bowlers. The other slow left arm orthodox bowler, Vikas Mishra (2/65 in 21 overs), was also in his element.

Ishant Sharma (1/38 in 11 overs) was impressive in short bursts and distinctly unlucky as some of the edges didn't carry to keeper or the slips.

The senior fast bowler looked in good rhythm and got a lot of deliveries to straighten after pitching on the seam.

Delhi would rue the fact that they didn't go for the kill when Himachal were under the pump.

Most of the top order batsmen got out playing poor shots even though there was some hint of turn.

"None of our batsmen were out because of the pitch. The pitch played okay but it was poor shot selection," HP coach Vikram Rathour said.

While Sood mainly bowled arm balls, Misra got a few to turn but in most cases, batsmen were out to straight deliveries while playing for the turn.

Brief Scores:

Delhi 1st Innings 317 (Dhruv Shorey 88, Hiten Dalal 79, Mayank Dagar 3/63)

Himachal Pradesh 1st Innings 216/8 (Rishi Dhawan 64, Ekant Sen 46, Varun Sood 4/53).