Bhatia takes first five-for to skittle Maharashtra

NAGOTHANE, December 9: Hosts Maharashtra frittered away the advantage of winning the toss on the first day of their Ranji Trophy tie against Delhi here on Sunday. Electing to bat, they were bowled out for a paltry 219, succumbing to the canny medium pace of all-rounder Rajat Bhatia, who bagged five wickets for 29 runs. The start was delayed by an hour due to a wet turf and seven Maharashtra batsmen were either caught behind or fell edging to the slip cordon.In reply, Delhi were 23 for one at the close.
Surprisingly, Delhi’s frontline seamers Pradeep Sangwan and Parminder Awana — the latter preferred over Amit Bhandari — could not do any damage in pleasing conditions on a decent track. Instead, it was Bhatia’s guile and experience which gave Delhi the upper hand. This was his first five-wicket haul in 39 first-class matches.
Delhi skipper Virender Sehwag quickly realised that it was not Sangwan’s day, and even when Hrishikesh Kanitkar (67, 171b, 8x4s) and Vishal Bhilare (31, 58b, 5x4s) had a 70-run fifth-wicket partnership, Sehwag kept giving the ball to Bhatia. He even opted for his own off-spin over Awana and spinner Narender Singh.
Of course, they went for boundaries but they also forced batsmen to take some risks. Sehwag’s clever captaincy and attacking field placements proved fruitful, although he was let down by the poor fielding.
For Maharashtra, former captain and southpaw Kanitkar was the best batsman on view. Skipper Venugopal Rao was also looking assured till he fell to Bhatia.