Bhatia’s heroics give Delhi lead

The runs accumulated after that point, right until close of play, remained of academic interest only — Delhi was 434 for eight in 113 overs with one rather irrelevant day left to play.

In the end the trouble was worth it — in a game that looks destined to end up in a dull draw, the hosts had fished out three points. Delhi had batted 99.5 overs to go past the Punjab total and the team applauded. Two deliveries later, they were up again, clapping as the man responsible for their cheer made his way back to the pavilion shaking his head.

Bhatia had done his job, but had fallen one short of what would have been his ninth first-class century as umpire Umesh Sood raised his finger to a leg-before appeal off leg-spinner Sarabjit Ladda.

The Delhi number six had been stuck in the 90s for 24 deliveries, somewhat taking away from an innings built on a glorious display of horizontal bat shots and hard punches that raced through the cover and mid-off region. Bhatia plastered his half-century with seven boundaries form 85 balls, and once again stood out as being the man for a crisis. Bhatia, in the star-studded and deep Delhi batting order, might have been reduced to obscurity but the all-rounder has built a formidable career cashing in on small opportunities.

Bhatia, who was aggressive when on strike, played the caretaker role to perfection as far as Bisht went and the ‘keeper prospered in his company.

Trouble for Delhi

It was only in the first hour in the morning that the match, which looked seemingly one-sided on Tuesday evening, turned dramatically into a gripping duel as Delhi lost both its overnight batsmen — Aakash Chopra and Shikhar Dhawan — and three more established bats inside 11 overs.

Chopra was trapped in front, Dhawan walked out after umpires consulted on a low slip catch, there was little doubt about Aditya Jain’s dismissal while birthday boy Virat Kohli was prevented the license to party when Yuvraj Singh plucked a stunning reflex catch with his left-hand at slip.

Mitthun Manhas settled the early jitters with typically silken grace to race away to his half-century in just 39 balls with ten boundaries and one six, before being dismissed even as the four-course meal was being laid out on the sidelines.

Nervous lunch

Delhi took a quiet lunch at 269/5 with last recognised pair of Bhatia and Bisht at the crease, and gave a sigh of relief when Punjab skipper Pankaj Dharmani dropped Bisht at first slip off Gagandeep immediately after lunch. In hindsight, it turned out to be the deciding factor — Bisht ambled from 9 to 76 before Ravi Inder latched on to an outside edge.

The Punjab bowlers, especially Manpreet Gony and young Siddharth Kaul, made a valiant effort in short bursts in search of a breakthrough and the introduction of part-timers didn’t help much either.