Rajat Bhatia ton not enough for Delhi

Despite the fact that Punjab seamers Manpreet Gony and Buttar picked up the prized scalps of Gautam Gambhir (30) and Virender Sehwag (10) early in the first hour,it was a resilient show by night watchman Nehra and Bhatia who together raised Delhi’s hope for a draw. Their combined stand of 82 runs in 183 minutes took Delhi from 83/5 to 165 in 68 overs.

Nehra’s innings of 16 runs in 128 balls had him ducking several bouncers,shouldered wide deliveries,batting for more than four hours (242 minutes). Bhatia,on the other hand,came up with his second century of the season,but Delhi was too far behind for the miracle win.

The rearguard survived despite some good bowling by Punjab. Bhatia was injured thrice during his innings as the odd ball kicked from the sweet spot and hit his left elbow. Bhatia,despite the blows,carried on,even as other batsmen struggled,with Delhi going to lunch at 125/5.

For a good while in the second session,Bhatia and Nehra just dug in and the draw began to look a possiblity. As the post lunch session progressed,Punjab showed desperation and Bhatia took advantage and collected as many runs as possible.

However,after the two quick wickets,the complexion of the game changed. Sumit Narwal joined Bhatia at 165/7. They both added 22 before Narwal chased a wide delivery to be caught at gully off Sandeep Sharma. Parwinder Awana edged to Mann for Gony’s third wicket. Navdeep Saini hung in long enough for Bhatia to collect the 18 runs for his century,but that was not enough.

Brief scores: Delhi 150 & 228 all out (R Bhatia 100,V Rawal 35,G Gambhir 30; J Buttar 3/45,M Gony 3/51,G Mann 2/18,S Sharma 2/48)