Delhi U23 crash out of BCCI One-day tourney after loss to Haryana

Delhi crashed out of the BCCI Men’s U23 State A Trophy after they lost to Haryana, who ended as the table-toppers from Group B and progressed to the quarterfinals.

On a surface in Ranchi that was meant for batting Delhi would have been disappointed for scoring only 312/9 in 50 overs.

Openers Arpit Rana, who scored two centuries in the tournament after two in the multi-day format, and Ankit Kumar added 115 for the first wicket in 14.5 overs.

Three quick wickets, including those of the openers, put Delhi in a spot of bother and probably cost them the match. For, despite partnerships they could never recover build a big score.

Ayush Doseja made 50 off 44 (3x4s, 1x6), skipper Hardik Sharma made 31 off 38 while Mayank Gusain scored 63 off 68 balls (2x4s, 3x6s).

The total was below par considering the form that the Haryana openers have been enjoying in the tournament. They continued with that and put on 111 for the first wicket in just 10.4 overs to set the tone for the chase. Arsh Ranga scored 120 off 80 balls (11x4s, 7x6s) and Yashvardhan Dalal hit 60 off 32 balls (10x4s, 2x6s) to give the team the boost at the top.

From thereon, only small contributions were needed to see the team through to win in 37.2 overs with four wickets in hand.

“The pitch was as good as cemented, it played so well for the batsmen. Their two opening batsmen were in very good form and they were the ones who took the game away,” said coach Shanker Saini.

“We had a few positives. Arpit Rana, Ayush Doseja and Rounak Waghela all did well,” he added.

Waghela picked 22 wickets in the tournament.

Skipper Hardik Sharma rued the loss in the first match and also felt he failed to strike big despite getting starts.

“We did well. The first match of the tournament against Andhra was what cost us. Our batting collapsed for a low score (166/9). If we had won that match, we would have been through. We hit the momentum during the middle of the tournament,” said skipper Hardik.

To be fair to Delhi, they crashed out despite winning five of the seven matches they played. While table-toppers Haryana returned with 7/7, Andhra, who finished second, won six of the seven matches they played.  

Delhi lost to Andhra by nine wickets, beat Manipur by nine wickets, beat Saurashtra by five wickets, beat Nagaland by nine wickets, beat Kerala by eight wickets, beat Uttarakhand by 204 runs and lost to Haryana by four wickets.

Tags : Delhi cricket, BCCI Men’s U23 State A Trophy, Arpit Rana, Ayush Doseja, Rounak Waghela, Hardik