Delhi pacers bring about quick end to Vidarbha misery

Delhi's medium pacers,led by Nehra,picked up nine wickets between them.

Delhis medium pacers,led by Ashish Nehra,picked up nine wickets between them to help bowl out Vidarbha for 204 in the second innings and register an innings and 156-run victory.

Delhi declared on an overnight score of 448 for nine and Nehra immediately made an impact by trapping opener Akshay Kolar leg-before-wicket on the second ball of the innings. Vidarbhas No.3 Ravi Jangid hung around for 25 balls for his four but was Nehras second scalp when he edged to wicket-keeper Rahul Yadav in the ninth over of the day.

Sumit Narwal and Parvinder Awana ensured that Nehra got good support by picking up three wickets each. For Vidarbha,opener Faiz Fazal made 90 off 164 balls but other than minor contribution from Shrikant Wagh and Urvesh Patel he received little support.

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The days play started 50 minutes late because of the seasons first fog and the conditions only gave the home side further advantage as they moved in for an innings win at the Roshanara Club grounds. Nehra hit the right length often and kept the batsman guessing with the odd bouncer. Awana was the most economical of the three medium-pacers who picked up wickets He went at just 2.63 and finished with three for 29 off 11 overs.

In the fifteenth over,Awana got into the act. He bowled an in-cutter to Vidarbha skipper Shalabh Srivastava after setting him up with out-swingers. Srivastava edged to short-leg fielder Rajat Bhatia,who didnt spill the bat-pad offering. In his next over,Awana sent Rashmi Ranjan Parida packing when the batsman drove upppishly back into his hands. Four balls later,he castled Ranjit Paradkar.

Vidarbha were five down with just 40 on board in the seventeenth over.

However,Fazal ensured that his side didnt just roll over. Urvesh Patel joined him from the other end. Fazal showed his class during an innings in which he displayed his compact defence. The Delhi bowlers tried to push him on the back foot but he had the time to punch the ball.

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Fazal made 90 and took his seasons total to 665 in seven matches. He has two hundreds to his name. On Monday he was given a life when an attempted pull off Nehra only resulted in a top edge that wicket-keeper Yadav dropped.

Fazal and Urvesh Patel put on 106 for the sixth wicket. However Narwal broke the partnership when he dismissed Patel for 34. Five overs later he got rid of Fazal.

Brief scores: Vidarbha 88 & 204 all out (F Fazal 90,S Wagh 44,U Patel 34,A Nehra 3/66,S Narwal 3/52,P Awana 3/29) vs Delhi 448 for nine dcl

POINTS: Delhi: 7,Vidarbha 0