In the first game of the season, Delhi had a chance to register a complete victory over Assam, but the visiting side bowlers did not bowl the stipulated overs, thus denying Delhi a chance to win the game.
The same could have been the scenes at the Palam stadium as there were just a few minutes left before the end of the final day’s play and Delhi were still few runs away but on this occasion, the scenes were different and despite losing out on a first-innings lead, Delhi made a comeback in the game and trumped Suresh Raina led side Uttar Pradesh to register their second win in the third game of the season,
“Yaar, there was a worry, to be honest. When Manan and Rishabh got out, thoughts of that Assam game did flood my mind. So, we sent Navdeep (Saini) ahead of Pulkit to get us a few big blows and finish the game off quickly for us,” Delhi coach KP Bhaskar told The IndianExpress after the end of the game.
“It’s a great win for us. We made heavy weather of it in the end, but a great win after conceding the first-innings lead,” a relaxed Bhaskar would sum up after the win,” he added.
Skipper Ishant Sharma had a great role to play in the game as he gave UP early jitters in the second innings, not allowing them to pile up runs at the start. At one stage, UP were three down with a score of two but the middle order made vital contributions to ask Delhi to chase down 256.
The home side had enough time, but again, the game went down to the last few minutes, but the scenario was not the same what happened at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium during the first round of the tournament.
With this win, Delhi have now attained the second rank in the points table with 16 points in the bag. Though now, the squad will be without skipper and strike bowler Ishant Sharma, who has left the side for India duty. The skipper played a pivotal role with the ball in all the games, and his absence is all set to create a big void in the team.
Rishab Pant has been given the duty to lead the capital state in the upcoming game against Karnataka, from November 9 to 12.