Left-handed opening batsman Gautam Gambhir celebrated his selection in the India A team’s tour of the West Indies by hitting an unbeaten 140 to help Delhi reach 260 for three in reply to Hyderabad’s 297 for nine declared on the penultimate day of their Elite Group A Ranji Trophy league match at the Ferozshah Kotla here today. With only a day remaining, the game is heading for a draw and Delhi are assured of a semi-final berth. Scoreboard Hyderabad (1st Innings): Nand Kishore c Dahiya b Kuldeep Rawat 17; Daniel Manohar c Chopra b Bhandari 0; Vinay Kumar c Salil Oberoi b Bhandari 96; V V S Laxman c Manhas b Sanghvi 76; A T Ryadu c Bhandari b Sanghvi 11; Shivaji Yadav lbw Bhandari 1; Arjun Yadav c Salil Oberoi b Bhandari 35; Ibrahim Khaleel not out 30; Vishnu Vardhan c Bhandari b Sarandeep Singh 8; N P Singh c Gambhir b Sarandeep Singh 6; V Raju not out 7; Extras: (lb-1, nb-4, penalty runs 5): 10 Total (for 9 decl): 297 Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-32, 3-150, 4-168, 5-173, 6-235, 7-246, 8-268, 9-274. Bowling: Amit Bhandari 23-2-80-4, Kuldeep Rawat 19-7-48-1, Sarandeep Singh 30-6-69-2, Rahul Sanghvi 30-6-87-2, Mithun Manhas 1-0-7-0. Delhi (1st Innings): Aakash Chopra lbw N P Singh 0; Gautam Gambhir batting 140; Salil Oberoi c D Manohar b V Raju 64; Mithun Manhas c and b S Yadav 34; Varun Kumar batting 12; Extras: (b-2, lb-1, w-1, nb-6): 10 Total (for 3 wkts): 260 Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-150, 3-227 Bowling: N P Singh 9-1-31-1, Vishnu Vardhan 14-3-43-0, Daniel Manohar 5-0-22-0, V Raju 23-4-74-1, Shivaji Yadav 16-2-82-1, Arjun Yadav 1-0-5-0. The afternoon session, when the Sun shone brightly after two days of incloement weather, belonged to Delhi’s young brigade of Gambhir and debutant Salil Oberoi, who put on 150 runs for the second wicket after Aakash Chopra had been dismissed in the first over. If Gambhir, who had aggregated 628 runs prior to today’s knock, was in full flow with some excusitive drives and cuts, young Oberoi showed confidence in making 64 (8x4). Son of former Delhi offie Praveen Oberoi, Salil, a second-year student of St Stephen’s College, demonstrated that he has the dedication and determination to play at the higher level. Earlier, Hyderabad declared their first innings at lunch with the score reading 297 for nine. Vinay Kumar, who played the role of a sheetanchor, got out for 96 (12x4). Amit Bhandari, the most successful bowler for Delhi this season, finished with 4 for 80. TN in command Mohali: Tamil Nadu were in a commanding position on the penultimate day of their Group ‘B’ match against Punjab, having established a 101-run lead with three wickets remaining. Having dismissed Punjab for 233, the visitors reached 334 for seven at the draw of stumps, thanks mainly to an unbeaten 160 by S Sriram.Brief scores: Punjab 233 and Tamil Nadu: 334 for 7. Andhra close to victory Kolkata: On a day when 12 wickets tumbled, Andhra set up the game nicely, and required 88 runs on the final day tomorrow for an outright win, after Bengal batting collapsed for the second time in three days for 237 in the Elite Group A match.Brief scores: Bengal 189 and 237 and Andhra 319 and 20 for no loss. Gujarat fightback Ahmedabad: Neeraj Patel cracked a valiant 165 to spearhead Gujarat’s fightback as the hosts reached 414 for seven in reply to Orissa’s 589 on the third day of the Elite Group B match. Patel’s sheet-anchor role was well supported by Kirat Damani (74).Brief scores: Orissa 589 and Gujarat 414 for 7.
