Delhi secured a memorable eight-wicket win against Mumbai in a Ranji Trophy Group B match, thanks to a fine century by Vaibhav Rawal and a five-wicket haul by pacer Divij Mehra. This was Delhi’s first outright win over Mumbai since the 1979-80 Ranji Trophy final. Delhi bowled out Mumbai for 293 in the first innings and took a 76-run lead owing to Vaibhav Rawal’s 114 and skipper Himmat Singh’s 85. Mehra, who was playing only his second first-class game, then gave a masterclass in seam bowling as he ran through the much-vaunted Mumbai top-order, including Prithvi Shaw, Musheer Khan, Armaan Jaffer, first innings centurion Sarfaraz Khan, and Mohit Avasthi.
Resuming at 168/9 on the final day, Mumbai’s Tanush Kotian (50 not out) managed to get his half-century before spinner Hrithik Shokeen snared the last wicket with Mumbai managing to score 170 in their second essay. With less than 100 runs required for the win, Delhi, who have so far endured a tumultuous season and are out of the quarterfinal contention, looked eager to bag the victory. Opener Anuj Rawat (14) slammed two boundaries and a six in his four-ball innings. Vaibahv Sharma (36) and Hrithik Shokeen (36 not out) then put up a 69-run stand, hitting nine fours and two sixes between them. With Sharma getting out in the 16th over, former skipper and IPL specialist Nitish Rana, who was added to the squad on the eve of the match, walked to the middle and sent the very first delivery he faced for a six, to seal Delhi’s win. The loss has affected the Ajinkya Rahane-led Mumbai’s chances for a quarterfinal spot.
In other matches in the group, spinner Lalith Mohan had a five-wicket haul in the first innings and grabbed a six-wicket haul (6/58) in the second essay as Andhra beat Saurasthra by 150 runs. Tamil Nadu claimed an innings and 70-run win over Assam. Bengal stormed into quarterfinals with a thumping innings and 50-run victory over Haryana in their Group A match, thanks to a career-best 10-wicket match haul by pacer Akash Deep.
Chandigarh secured three points by virtue of first innings lead from a drawn Group D game against Railways after a truncated final day. Another match in the group between Jammu & Kashmir and Tripura in Jammu ended with the first innings remaining unfinished. Finally, the match between KarnATAKA-KERALA ended in a draw.
