Pacers make merry

The green track here at the Maharani Usha Raje cricket ground for the Ranji Trophy semi-final promised a medium pacers’ feast.

The green track here at the Maharani Usha Raje cricket ground for the Ranji Trophy semi-final promised a medium pacers’ feast. That’s how it turned out, with Delhi’s veteran paceman Amit Bhandari and Sumit Narwal taking four wickets each bundle Baroda out for 199 on the opening day of their five-day match.

And when the umpires decided to call stumps, Delhi too were struggling at 49 for 3 with the experienced Mitthun Manhas (26) and youngster Aditya Jain (18) at the crease.

Of the 14 wickets that fell today, 13 went to medium-pacers. Even experienced players like openers Aakash Chopra (3) and Gautam Gambhir (2), who have a reputation of playing swing bowling, struggled versus Baroda medium-pacer Sumit Singh, Salim Veragi and left-arm seamer Sankalp Vohra.

Story continues below this ad

Skipper Gambhir was the first to go, caught lbw by Sumit followed by Chopra. Shikhar Dhawan failed to score. Three down in five overs flat.

Baroda won the toss and elected to bat, but were soon in trouble, thanks to a magical first spell by Bhandari (8-2-12-3). With Satyajit Parab (6), skipper Connor Williams (14) and man in form Rakesh Solanki (2) in the pavilion before lunch, Baroda’s one-drop Azhar Bilakhia and middle-order batsman Shatrunjay Gaekwad tried to rescue their team.

Brief scores: Baroda 199 (A Bilakhia 26, S Gaekwad 43, P Shah 46, Y Pathan 14, S Vohra 27; Bhandari 4/52, Narwal 4/56). Delhi 49/3 (A Chopra 3, G Gambhir 2, M Manhas batting 26, Aditya Jain batting 18).