69 ain’t divine for dismal Delhi

Together they’ve faced the best bowlers in the world, batted on wickets as varied as Perth and Barbados, seaming English wickets to turners. Then they come home and crumble under the gentle Kotla sun.

They crumbled to the pace of Siddharth Trivedi, who bowled while running a fever, his ears stuffed with cotton, wrapped in heavy woolen sweater and cap. Together with left-arm seamer Ashraf Makda’s disciplined stump-to-stump bowling, they created havoc.

Bhatia was the exception, cutting, pulling and driving with disdain to take Delhi past the 50-run mark. Under fire for his form this season, his 33 could be as vital to his survival in the squad as it was for his team.

Another man under fire, Delhi skipper Amit Bhandari, led the way in redressing the balance — and justifying the seaming wicket — to some extent. He bent his back, moved the ball appreciably and so picked up his first five-wicket haul this season.

Seam bowlers Kuunal Lall and Mukesh Dewan provided good back-up to pin down Gujarat at 74/9 before the last wicket pair showed stubbornness and unorthodoxy to remain unseparated at stumps.

It may sound strange but the advantage still lies with the home team. This track should slow down and help batting — and Delhi’s depth and class gives them the edge.

Brief scores

Delhi 69 (R Bhatia 33, M Tehlan 13; S Trivedi 5/16, A Makda 4/30) vs Gujarat 116/9 (H Vatekar 16, A Makda 13no; A Bhandari 5/43, K Lall 2/40)