Pace trio of Harshit Rana, Money Grewal and Siddhant Sharma helped Delhi beat Assam by 10 wickets. (Special Arrangement)If it was their lower middle order that turned the tide in favour of Delhi on the penultimate day, the pace troika of Harshit Rana, Money Grewal, and Siddhant Sharma finished the job on Day 4, as Delhi handed Assam a 10-wicket thrashing in their Group D Ranji Trophy game on Monday at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground.
Despite Delhi dropping four sitters in the opening hour, they bowled out Assam for 182 in their second innings. Chasing 62 runs, Delhi openers Sanat Sangwan (34 not out) and Gagan Vats (25 not out) ensured that the home team walked away with a bonus point.
After a 124-run deficit, Assam was reeling at 44 for 3 on Day 3. They lost overnight batter Sibsankar Roy on the first ball of the day, with left-arm seamer Siddhant Sharma, who scored a fine 89 with the bat, getting Delhi going. A mix-up cost Bhargav Dutta his wicket. Harshit Rana, who has been called up for the third Test against Mumbai to be played in New Zealand, sent Assam captain Denish Das’s middle stump cartwheeling with a jaffa.
After picking up three quick wickets in the first two overs of the final day, Delhi paid for their butterfingers. Harshit Rana could have secured a five-wicket haul in the second innings, but three catches were dropped. He dropped Assam’s top run-scorer, Sumit Ghadigaonkar, off his own bowling. Himmat Singh, who took a blinder in the first innings, dropped a dolly at first slip off Harshit’s bowling. Himanshu Chauhan put down a skier.
Harshit Rana could have secured a five-wicket haul in the second innings, but three catches were dropped. (PTI)
Ghadigaonkar, a Mumbai lad playing as a local for Assam because of his job at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), made the most of Delhi’s poor fielding. He took on the Delhi bowlers, hitting four sixes during his unbeaten knock of 76. The two pull shots against Rana were eye-catching. The former Rizvi College player had also scored 162 in the first innings.
For Delhi, Money Grewal (3/50), Siddhant Sharma (3/24), and Harshit Rana (2/61) shared the spoils.
Delhi coach Sarandeep Singh didn’t mince his words despite his team’s triumph, expressing the need for their top order to show more intent.
“The problem is that the top order did not click in the first innings. We need bigger partnerships between the openers,” he said.
“The boys need to have a belief that they can win. Winning is a habit. If you don’t win, you won’t develop that habit. And if you don’t win, you won’t gain confidence. Sumit (Mathur), Siddhant (Sharma), and Money Grewal performed excellently. All of them are match-winners. When you can win matches for your clubs, why can’t you win matches for Delhi? I have asked this question to the boys, and they delivered in this game,” he added.
The coach also made it clear that batters like Yash Dhull must aim for big runs in the season to get noticed by the selectors.
“In the middle order, hundreds are important. Jonty Sidhu got a ton in the first game, and Dhull got a ton in the second game. I am asking for back-to-back hundreds. Whoever gets off to a good start in a season should aim to score 700-800 runs. When any batter makes a lot of runs, the team automatically does well. And the player also gets good opportunities with the selectors watching,” he said, referring to selector Ajay Ratra, who was watching the game throughout the four days from the stands.
Brief Scores: Assam: 330 & 182 (Sumit Ghadigaonkar 76 not out; Money Grewal 3/50, Siddhant Sharma 3/24, Harshit Rana 2/61) lost to Delhi: 454 & 62 for 0 (Sanat Sangwan 34 not out, Gagan Vats 25 not out)
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