Jonty Sidhu's Defiant Ton Keeps Delhi in the Hunt Vs TN

Chennai, Jan 9 (PTI): Jonty Sidhu's fighting ton helped Delhi reach 268 for 6 in 103 overs at stumps against Tamil Nadu on the third day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group 'B' match at the M A Chidambaram stadium here Wednesday.

Tamil Nadu had made 432 in the first innings, riding on Abhinav Mukund's solid knock of 134.

Sidhu's unbeaten 104 (235 balls) helped the team recover from 49 for 4 in Delhi's first innings. His 126-run seventh wicket partnership with Lalit Yadav (65 batting) went a long way in blunting the Tamil Nadu attack.

The lanky left-hander mixed caution with aggression and used his feet to counter the Tamil Nadu spinners-R Sai Kishore and Mohan Prasath.

Apart from 11 fours, Jonty Sidhu also hit three huge sixes and defended resolutely against the home side attack which was looking to wrap up the innings quickly after being top in the first session.

Earlier in the morning, the visitors suffered two quick blows, losing Dhruv Shorey and skipper Nitish Rana in the space of two runs.

Shorey was caught and bowled by Mohan Prasath to give the debutant his maiden wicket while Rana's airy drive off M Mohammed was snapped up captain B Indrajith at mid-off.

With the team in a spot of bother, Himmat Singh (39, 94 balls, 3X4) was joined by Sidhu and the duo added 78 runs to frustrate the TN bowlers.

Himmat became Sai Kishore's second scalp, being trapped LBW. Anuj Rawat didn't last too long, falling leg-before wicket to Baba Aparajith.

Sidhu and Lalit Yadav came to Delhi's rescue and increased the chances of securing a draw.

Meanhile in Indore, Andhra Pradesh recorded a 307-run win as Madhya Pradesh imploded rather spectacularly on the third day, slipping from 35 for 3 to 35 all out (one batsman was absent hurt), losing six wickets while not scoring a run.

Right-arm medium-pacer K V Sasikanth (6 for 18) and D P Vijayakumar (3 for 17) wreaked havoc as the MP batting line-up folded in just 16.5 overs, chasing 342 for a win.

Sasikanth took three wickets in his eighth over and missed out on a hat-trick as Ishwar Pandey survived, only to be bowled off the next delivery.

The win lifted Andhra to 17 points and sixth position in Group 'B' while Madhya Pradesh's capitulation puts its chances of qualification to the last eight in jeopardy.

Brief scores (at the end of day three): Tamil Nadu 432 all out in 164.4 overs (Abhinav Mukund 134, Vikas Mishra 5 for 142) vs Delhi 268 for 6 in 103 overs (Jonty Sidhu 104 batting, Lalit Yadav 65 batting).

At Indore: Andhra 132 and 301 all out in 101.1 overs (Karan Shinde 103 not out, C Gnaneshwar 43, D B Prahanth Kumar 44, Ishwar Pandey 3 for 55) beat Madhya Pradesh 91 all out in 35.5 overs (Girinath Reddy 6 for 29) and 35 all out in 16.5 overs (K V Sasikanth 6 for 18) by 307 runs.

Points: Andhra: 6, MP: 0.

At Amtar: Himachal 297 all out in 96.1 overs (A R Kalsi 101, Rishi Dhawan 58, M D Nidheesh 6 for 88) and 285 for 8 in 52.1 overs (Rishi Dhawan 85, A R Kalsi 64, Sijomon Joseph 4 for 51) vs Kerala 286 all out in 87 overs (P Rahul 127, Sanju Samson 50, Mohammed Azharudeen 40, Arpit N Guleria 5 for 47).

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