You are here: Home » Cricket India » ROI in trouble after getting bundled out for 252

ROI in trouble after getting bundled out for 252

Related Links : Irani Trophy 2008/09 : Delhi Vs Rest of India at Vadodara Scorecard

Last season’s Ranji Champs – Delhi have grabbed some good advantage by bowling out the Anil Kumble led Rest of India Squad for just 252 on the opening day’s play of the Irani Cup match at Vadodara. India’s strike bowler Ishant Sharma produced a lot of venom with a reverse swinging ball to change the complexion of the game which looked to be in favour of Rest of India after a solid start from Jaffer and Dravid. The rest of the Delhi bowlers complemented Ishant along with the fielders who did take some fine catches. Overall it was a day when the Rest of India batsmen lacked application with a lot of unnecessary shots. Delhi after restricting their opponents for a moderate score rounded off the day smoothly at 21 for 0.

Anil Kumble won a good toss which gave his side the opportunity to bat first on what looked to be a slow and dead track. The pitch had no pace, no bounce and no sideways movement for the seamers. Neither was there any swing in the air with the brand new SG ball for the likes of Nehra, Ishant and Sangwan. ROI’s opening combination of Jaffer and Dravid took advantage of that and they played in their natural style of building their innings. Runs were in particular leaked by an inexperienced Pradeep Sangwan, who lacked the pace and the accuracy to bowl six decent deliveries in an over. Delhi’s breakthrough came when Jaffer closed the face of the blade too soon to be caught at covers off leggie Chetanya Nanda. Jaffer had stroked his way to 50 from 91 balls with 5 fours out of a 77-run opening stand. At Lunch, ROI were looking good at 105 for the loss of Jaffer in 34 overs. But the real test was about to come in the post lunch session, especially once the young Ishant decided to bend his back. The lanky fast bowler produced one unplayable delivery that swung back sharply at a good pace and at the same time to shoot low and strike Dravid (46 from 95 balls with 4 fours) dead infront of the stumps. Ishant was in the middle of a superb spell as he asked a lot of questions to the batsmen while not conceding any runs at all.

S Badrinath, like in the International A Tri Series had shown that he wasn’t really upto the mark when it comes to handling some quality fast bowling. He was almost out lbw to an Ishant indipper but for the Umpire giving him the benefit of doubt. Ishant, however could get his wicket very soon as Badri played a loose backfoot drive to a delivery that was climbing up and crashing back onto the timber. Badrinath struggle in his 62-ball stay which produced 16 runs. Delhi could get ROI at 127 for 3 with that strike and they made further inroads in a slightly thin batting line-up as Laxman and Dhoni fell playing rank bad shots. First, it was Laxman (17 from 52) throwing it away with a needless slog sweep off Sehwag that went straight into the hands of short mid wicket. About six overs later, MS Dhoni (5) attempted to reach out to a delivery with his wrists to try and force it on the up, but he could only edge a Sangwan delivery in the slips. Now there was no stopping for the Delhi bowlers in the clean-up job with even Mohammad Kaif losing his wicket through a poorly executed pull off Nanda. With cameos coming in from Harbhajan (26 not out from 33 balls), RP Singh (18) and Munaf Patel (19 from 10 balls with 4 fours), ROI reached 252. Their innings lasted just the 81.3 overs.

Ishant Sharma was amazing as he gave away just the 22 runs in his 12.3 overs besides taking three wickets. Left arm medium pacer Sangwan also took three wickets but at some cost and leggie Nanda finished with a decent 3 for 60 in 27.1 overs. Delhi batted 5 overs without any loss before stumps. Akash Chopra seems to be in great touch as he has moved onto 16 from 18 with 3 fours. Delhi hold the advantage for sure as they have the dangerous Sehwag in their team and a couple of hours from him will certainly give a lead for the Ranji Champs. Rest of India, on the other hand will believe that they have a strong bowling unit that can bring them back in the game.