Kunwar, Himmat Fightback Takes Delhi to 270 for 6 Vs Gujarat

New Delhi, Feb 4 (PTI) All-rounder Kunwar Bidhuri and the talented Himmat Singh struck fighting half-centuries to rescue Delhi from a precarious position as the hosts reached 270 for 6 against Gujarat here on the first day of their Ranji Trophy group A encounter.

Delhi at one stage were staring down the barrel at 136 for 5 with only opener Hiten Dalal (69 off 130 balls) looking comfortable against the Gujarat attack.

However, Himmat (56 off 153 balls), who made a comeback into the senior side along with Kunwar (78 batting off 133 balls) rescued Delhi with a 134-run sixth wicket stand.

Pacer Arzan Nagaswalla (3/54 in 18 overs) was the pick of the Gujarat bowlers while seasoned Axar Patel (1/60 in 18.3 overs) did the most important job of dismissing Himmat off the last ball of the day.

The right-hander, who showed tremendous patience during his 153-ball stay went for a drive but the edge landed in Rujul Bhatt's hands in the slip cordon.

This was after he had hit eight fours and a six during his knock. Kunwar, who scored his maiden half-century, was more attacking of the two, with 11 fours and a six to his credit.

In the morning, opener Anuj Rawat (4) was trapped leg before by left-arm seamer Rush Kalaria (2/58 in 22 overs) but skipper Dhruv Shorey (28) and Dalal added 73 for the second wicket.

With Delhi looking in control, pacer Nagaswalla dealt a twin blow getting Shorey leg-before and breaching through his deputy Nitish Rana's (0) defence in successive overs.

At 79 for 3, there was another stand of 49 between Dalal, who hit 10 fours and Jonty Sidhu (18). But in the post-lunch session, Nagaswalla got his third wicket as Jonty edged one to Samit Gohel in the slips.

Dalal, who faced 130 balls, suddenly had a rush of blood as he tried to hook an innocuous Kalaria bouncer to be caught by the only man Nagaswalla stationed behind square.

After that Himmat and Kunwar held the innings together which gives Delhi an opportunity to fight and remain in the match.

Brief Scores

In Delhi: Delhi 1st Innings 270/6 (Kunwar Bidhuri 78 batting, Hiten Dalal 69, Himmat Singh 53) vs Gujarat.

In Jaipur: Rajasthan 1st Innings242 all out (Mahipal Lomror 52, Mukesh Kumar 6/62). Bengal 1st Innings 47/1.

In Patiala: Andhra 97 (Siddarth Kaul 5/24, Vinay Choudhary 3/28) and 31/4 (Vinay Choudhary 3/11). Punjab 108 (Mandeep Singh 23, Shoaib Mohammed Khan 5/46, S Ashish 5/50).

In Nagpur: Vidarbha 239 for 6 (Wasim Jaffer 57, Ganesh Sathish 58, MD Nidheesh 3/53). PTI KHS

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