Rawal, Shorey deny Tamil Nadu an outright win on final day

NEW DELHI: The left-handed Vaibhav Rawal frustrated the Tamil Nadu bowlers for close to four hours as his unbeaten 95 off 142 balls (13 fours) saved Delhi from an outright defeat in the Ranji Trophy Group B match that concluded on Friday here.

Tamil Nadu received three points from the match by virtue of its first innings lead of 124 runs. On the fourth and final day, Delhi batted for more than 70 overs (71.5 overs to be precise with 8 on Day Three) as it was bowled out for 262 in its second innings.

Tamil Nadu required 139 runs in a maximum of 18 overs, but the fading December light in a cold Delhi winter allowed only six overs to be bowled, in which the visitor scored 54 losing three wickets. Opener B Sai Sudharsan (24 off 19 balls, 1 four, 2 sixes), in another short stay, hit a couple of maximums to show why he is rated so highly.

But, the chase was an improbable one in the final session as Delhi skipper Yash Dhull cleverly spread all his fielders to cut down on boundaries and make life difficult for the Tamil Nadu batters. In an act of gamesmanship, pacers Harshit Rana (1/27 off 3 overs) and Kuldip Yadav (2/27 off 3 overs) also wasted time, either faking cramps or tying shoelaces or not delivering the ball even after completing the action.

They changed field after every delivery, increasing the frustration of the visiting team batters, three of whom perished while trying to hit sixes.

Earlier, Rawal, who was playing only his 20th first-class match in 10 years, saved Delhi from a loss. Rawal hit 13 boundaries while the in-form Dhruv Shorey (70 off 115 balls, 11 fours) completed 500 runs for the season in just the third match.

Right-handed Shorey and southpaw Rawal added 70 runs between them for the fourth wicket as Washington Sundar emerged the best bowler for Tamil Nadu with figures of 4/43. In the end, the nearly 60 overs (59.1 overs) that were lost during the first three days of play due to bad light cost Tamil Nadu full points.

BRIEF SCORES: Delhi 303 and 262 in 79.5 overs (Vaibhav Rawal 95*, Dhruv Shorey 70, Washington Sundar 4/43) drew with Tamil Nadu 427 and 54/3 in 6 overs. Points: Delhi 1(2); TN 3(6)