Delhi crash to second defeat, slip to bottom of table

Delhi suffered their second loss of the Ranji Trophy 2023-24 season, going down to Madhya Pradesh (MP) by 86 runs in the third round last week at the Holkar Stadium in Indore.

The team, led by Himmat Singh, had started off well by bowling out MP for just 171 in their first innings with pace bowlers Himanshu Chauhan (5/51) and Divij Mehra (3/48) sharing eight wickets between them.

However, Delhi couldn’t cash in on the advantage and were bowled out for just 205. Opener and former captain Yash Dhull made 47 to top-score while batsman Ayush Badoni scored 41.

However, MP made 251 in the second innings thanks to 73 off 74 balls by skipper Shubham Sharma. Chauhan (4/69) and spinner Hrithik Shokeen (4/61) were among the wickets for Delhi but a target of 218 proved to be an uphill task for Delhi.

They were bowled out for a paltry 131 with only Vaibhav Kandpal (49 not out) and Dhull (33) putting up some resistance.

Interestingly, left-arm pacer Kulwant Khejroliya, who had once played for Delhi picked two wickets in the second innings for his new state MP. He removed skipper Himmat and Dhull.

Delhi are now on the bottom of the Elite Group D points table with just one point. The table is led by Baroda with 19 points, followed by Puducherry on 12 and MP on 10 points.

Delhi had lost the first match of the season to Puducherry by nine wickets. The second match with J&K ended with points shared after only 42 overs of play was possible with Delhi struggling to 134/6.

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