Young Delhi slip against Baroda on turner, crash out of Vijay Hazare Trophy

A batting failure in their last league match against Baroda pushed Delhi out of the BCCI national one-day tournament for the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Delhi lost by five wickets on Sunday at the NextGen Cricket Ground in Hyderabad to finish fourth in Group E, from where Baroda and Bengal advanced to the tournament knockout stage.

Delhi lost a couple of early wickets – Sanat Sangwan (bowled played on) and Priyansh Arya (Hardik Pandya’s delivery reared awkwardly to catch the top of the bat and flew to slip). But they were still on track as opener Arpit Rana (75 off 87 balls; 11x4s) and skipper Ayush Badoni (30 off 33; 4x4s, 1x6) added 66 for the third wicket.

Even after the loss of Badoni to medium-pacer Raj Limbani, Delhi stayed on course for a challenging total with Rana and Ayush Doseja (26 off 45 balls, 2x4s). Both the batsmen, who were pushed up from the under-23 level, added 53 for the fifth wicket. But then they both fell in quick succession.

Delhi then kept losing wickets and ended with a total of 180 in 38.3 overs.

The batsmen in the youthful Delhi side managed to get starts but were probably short on experience in building their innings against a team that included the Pandya brothers -- Hardik and Krunal. While Hardik Pandya took 1/28 in six overs, removing No. 3 Priyansh Arya (another player who did well at under-23 level and moved up) for four, left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya took 2/19, getting rid of Tejasvi Dahiya (1) and Navdeep Saini (12).

Off-spinner Mahesh Pithiya took 3/35 including the wickets of Doseja and Rana who were both looking good.

Experienced left-arm spinner Bhargav Bhatt took 2/5.

Baroda faced no problems in the chase. They could take their time. Openers Shashwat Rawat (41 off 58 balls; 7x4s) and Ninad Rathva (34 off 54; 6x4s) added 67 for the first wicket in just over 16 overs. Krunal Pandya (35 not out off 67 balls; 2x4s) and wicketkeeper Vishnu Solanki (37 off 51; 3x4s, 1x6) saw the team through to victory. 

“The pitch supported a bit of movement early on but after 10-15 overs, it started to help the spinners a lot. The ball turned, making it a challenge to score runs. A total of 220 would have been challenging for them,” said Doseja after the match.

“I thought if we had applied a bit more, reaching a 240-run total was possible and that should have been enough on this track.”

Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Punjab, Vidarbha, Tamil Nadu, Baroda and Bengal are the teams to have qualified for the Vijay Hazare Trophy Knockouts which begin on January 9 in Vadodara. The final will be played on January 18 in Vadodara.

Tags : Delhi cricket team, Baroda, Vijay Hazare Trophy, Hardik Pandya, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya