Delhi thump Rajasthan by 172 runs to pocket five points

NEW DELHI, November 7: Delhi needed 20-odd overs to polish the Rajasthan tail and force a thumping 172-run defeat down the visitors' throat to pocket five points in the Ranji Trophy Super League Group A cricket match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an improbable 422-run target, Rajasthan resumed on their overnight score of 188 for seven and it was largely because of Shailender Gehlot's defiant 85-ball 47 and Robin Bist's industrious 155-ball 69 that they managed to delay the inevitable.
Delhi captain Mithun Manhas then struck double blows in the 79th over, trapping Gehlot with the third ball of the over and getting Mohammad Aslam caught by Kunal Lal for a second ball duck in the fifth delivery.
Pacer Amit Bhandari finally dropped curtain on the Rajasthan innings when he caught Bist off his own bowling as the visitors folded up for 172 runs.
With this win, Delhi soared to the top of Group A in the point ladder.
Delhi coach Vijay Dahiya would be happy with the way his wards shrugged off the first innings flop show when the hosts were all out for a meagre 115 before making amends in the second innings, scoring 387, with handsome contributions from Virat Kohli (106), Mithun Manhas (100) and Rajat Bhatia (83).
Having Manoj Prabhakar as the bowling coach seemed to have worked wonder for the Delhi pacers, who shot out Rajasthan for a mere 85 in the first innings to swung the match.
Delhi host Saurashtra in their second Group A match, while Rajasthan face Maharashtra at home on November 15-18.
Scorecard:
Delhi 1st innings: 119 all out
Rajasthan 1st innings: 85 all out
Delhi 2nd innings : 387 all out
Rajasthan 2nd innings (Overnight 188 for 7)
VA Saxena lbw b Sangwan 0
GK Khoda c Dhawan b Nanda 71
APK Sharma lbw b Sangwan 26
R Bist c & b Bhandari 69
Shafiq Khan c Kunal Lal b Bhandari 3
RJ Kanwat c Kohli b Bhandari 0
RB Jhalani b Nanda 3
Pankaj Singh lbw b Nanda 19
SG Gehlot lbw b Manhas 47
M Aslam c Kunal Lal b Manhas 0
S Mathur not out 1
Extras (B-4, LB-2, NB-4) 10
Total (All out in 81.1 overs) 249
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-69, 3-116, 4-123, 5-123, 6-146, 7-174, 8-245, 9-245. Bowling: Pradeep Sangwan 18-5-45-2; Amiy Bhandari 10.1-3-17-3; Rajat Bhatia 9-2-32-0; Kunal Lal 11-1-46-0; Chetanya Nanda 24-7-72-3; Mithun Manhas 8-1-26-2; Aakash Chopra 1-0-5-0.