Delhi lose to Bihar through rain rule, face must-win situation

Delhi suffered a demoralising 17-run defeat against Bihar in the BCCI national one-day competition for the Vijay Hazare Trophy which pushed them down to sixth position in the seven-team Group E in the points table.

The Delhi team restricted Bihar to 210/9 in 42 overs with bowlers Akhil Chaudhary (4/45) and Prince Yadav (3/47) being the pick of the lot. Navdeep Saini bowled his four overs for just six runs and continued with his fine form after his four-wicket haul in the last match had powered Delhi to a win.

The match against Bihar on Thursday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad, was reduced to 42-overs-a-side due to rain.

Delhi were expected to chase the target with their strong batting line-up. However, when rain arrived they were 109/5 in 24 overs, still 17 runs short of the VJD method.

“We were a bit unlucky. The ground was a bit wet and it was not easy to bowl on that. We were in the process of building the innings before rain put a stop to our chase,” said Saini who suffered a slight ankle niggle due to the wet outfield and had to restrict his spell to just four overs. He is, however, fit and raring to go in the next match on Saturday.

Delhi began their chase on a sedate note losing Sarthak Ranjan and Yash Dhull early. Hrithik Shokeen followed soon after. Vaibha Kandpal (in pic), promoted to No. 4, scored unbeaten 31 off 46 balls (2x4s).

“It had been raining for the last two days. It also rained during our innings. The pitch was also not completely dry, so it was tough to bat on it. We had score but also ensure that we don’t lose wickets as we had an eye on the VJD method,” said Kandpal after his knock.

Delhi have to now win all their three remaining matches to qualify for the next round.

Tags : Vijay Hazare Trophy, DDCA, Delhi cricket, Navdeep Saini, Vaibhav Kandpal, Prince Yadav