Delhi’s 329-run overnight lead coming into the final day of their Ranji Trophy fixture looked commanding, but on a track that offered little assistance even on the fourth day, and with a bowling line-up that lacked the incisiveness to find a breakthrough, they were forced to drop three points.
The home side unexpectedly opened the day by continuing their batting but declared after piling on just 13 more runs at the Feroz Shah Kotla grounds here on Tuesday. They sent Himachal in to bat and an excellent opening spell by Money Grewal threatened to breathe life into the fixture. But as the ball got old and the track fell asleep, a rearguard partnership between Himachal skipper Ankush Bains and Pukhraj Mann held for the rest of the day’s play.
Delhi’s typical post-Diwali haze had cast a shadow on the game. Play was called off an hour early on Day 3 due to bad light, and on the stroke of tea on Tuesday for the same reason, and the two captains decided to shake hands and call off the game. Bains’s 139-ball 81 would end up being the top score of the match, and along with Mann, who hit 76 from 129 balls, the two tormented Delhi’s hapless-looking bowling for the best part of two sessions to squeeze them into surrendering for a draw.
Quickfire fifties from Yash Dhull and Ayush Doseja had put Delhi in a pretty healthy position, one that was made to look even stronger when Grewal scalped two wickets within the first 14 deliveries of Himachal’s second innings. The first one nipped back in a fraction to catch opener Sidhant Purohit, who had proved threatening after scoring 70 in the first innings, leg before. The second one picked up late movement to seam away and catch the outside edge of Ankit Kalsi, who was caught in the slips.
Once the new ball assistance fell away, so did Delhi’s hopes. In the opening session, Bains and Mann bogged down and resolutely defended their position. In the second, they freed their arms to unfurl some strokeplay in the face of scoring opportunities. Together they hit 16 boundaries and four sixes in their 160-run unbeaten partnership. A majority of those came after lunch as Delhi were sent scrambling, trying to manufacture wickets before finally throwing in the towel.
After another first innings lead draw in Hyderabad last week, Delhi now sits at six points on the table with 12 on offer: an outright win earns a team six points, and a draw without the first innings lead only one. It was seemingly an opportunity missed to beat a team against whom they had flexed their superiority with the bat on two of the four days of play. Delhi will now have to make the best of their remaining home fixtures in the group stage in the coming weeks against Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir.
Brief scores: Delhi 430 and 209/4 in 33.3 overs (Doseja 65 n.o) drew with Himachal Pradesh 297 & 168/2 (Bains 81 n.o, Mann 76 n.o; Grewal 2/31).
