xtratime Logo

[caption id="attachment_25907" align="aligncenter" width="580"] Gautam Gambhir hits a brilliant ton against Odhisa on Friday. Image Source: twitter.[/caption] Internet Desk: Gautam Gambhir kept himself in the hunt for a place in the Indian team's first XI against England in the first Test starting November 9 by hitting patient 147 helping Delhi take a substancial first innings lead in the Ranji Trophy group B encounter on Friday. After bowling out Odisha for 237 in the first innings, Delhi rode on skipper Gambhir's 39th first-class ton to reach 351 for seven at stumps on the second day thereby taking a 114-run lead. Gambhir faced 232 balls hitting 18 fours in the process. He showed a lot of patience, waiting for the loose deliveries. He played some attractive shots square of the wicket as well as in-front. He used his feet to good effect against spin duo of left-arm slow bowler Dhiraj Singh and off-spinner Gobind Poddar. The other significant contributor was Rishabh Pant, who smashed his way to a quickfire 60 off 56 balls comprising six boundaries and two sixes. Starting the day at 43 for no loss, Unmukt Chand's wretched run continued as he was caught by Subhranshu Senapati off pacer Suryakant Pradhan's bowling. Young Dhruv Shorey (29) showed patience as he put up a 71-run stand with skipper Gambhir. Shorey did all the hardwork to be trapped leg before by Poddar's off-break. Nitish Rana (5) was dismissed cheaply after which young Pant walked in. Courtesy Pant-Gambhir duo, Delhi stacked up 114 runs in 19.3 overs. Pant was severe on all the bowlers as the title contenders pushed up the rate. Once Pant was dismissed by Dhiraj caught by Senapati and Gambhir was caught by Anurag sarangi off Poddar, three short of his 150, Delhi were in a spot at 274 for 5 with only 37 run lead. But Milind Kumar (39 batting) and Sumit Narwal (35) added 56 runs to help Delhi stretch their lead by 100 runs. Narwal's addition to the team has had its desired effect as his quickfire knock had five boundaries and a six. In another match Himachal Pradesh were sent crashing to 36 all out, the fourth-lowest total in the Ranji Trophy since 2000, by Hyderabad as a staggering 15 wickets fell on day two of the Group C match here. None of Himachal's batsmen got into double digits as seamers M Ravi Kiran and Chama Milind ran through the top-order before legspinner Akash Bhandari snared four wickets without conceding a run to demolish the tail. Overnight 8/2, Himachal were bowled out in 25 overs at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium. Hyderabad surpassed Himachal's total with just a wicket down, but seamer Rishi Dhawan picked up six wickets to ensure his team remained in the game. Owing to Rishi's figures of 6/35, Himachal managed to limit Hyderabad to 99 for seven at stumps, a lead of 63 runs with three first-innings remaining. B Anirudh was at the crease at stumps, on 44 off 111 balls, having hit seven fours. The pitch was difficult to bat on, but the low totals were also due to a lack of application from the batsmen. Batsmen from both sides had a torrid time encountering the uneven bounce, as some of the balls would keep low while some would take off suddenly. As many as nine batsmen, across both innings, were either bowled or lbw. All that the bowlers were required to do was put the ball in the right area. However, Anirudh showed the rest how to bat on such a wicket.   Brief Scores: Odisha 1st Innings 237. Delhi 1st Innings 351/7 (Gautam Gambhir 147, Rishabh Pant 60, Dhiraj Singh 3/61, Dhiraj Singh 2/65). Himachal Pradesh 1st Innings 36.(Akash Bhandari 4/0 , Ravi Kiran 3/12) Hyderabad 99/7.(B Anirudh44*, RR Dhawan 6/35).