Ranji Trophy: Kushang, Shaurya win it for Saurashtra

Faced with a 276-run target on the fourth and final day, Delhi's lower-order kept the chase going, before going down for 271 and lost the Group B encounter by a mere four runs.

Published : Dec 10, 2016 15:57 IST , Vadodara

Saurashtra's Shaurya Sanandia picked five wickets in the second innings.
Saurashtra's Shaurya Sanandia picked five wickets in the second innings.
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Saurashtra's Shaurya Sanandia picked five wickets in the second innings.

Saurashtra's Kushang Patel's (4 for 83) and Shaurya Sanandia's (5 for 93) pushed Delhi over the edge in the Ranji Trophy Group B eighth round tie. The young fast bowlers played a huge part in a come-from-behind four runs victory at the Reliance stadium.

Faced with a 276-run target on the fourth and final day, Delhi's lower-order kept the chase going, before going down for 271. Only Pradeep Sangwan (24 not out) kept his cool in the tense situation.

>Scorecard

Jaydev Unadkat, who spearheaded the Saurashtra's attack in the second innings, overdid the pace bit, but played his part in inspiring his two young team-mates Patel and Sanandia in going all-out on the crucial day. Both worked up pace and troubled the batsmen with swing. The latter dismissed Gautam Gambhir on both occasions in the match.

Delhi looked on course when Milind Kumar and Manan Sharma were piloting the chase after the early loss of Rishab Pant on the final morning.

Sangwan’s knock in both innings under pressure showed the wicket, though lively, was not unplayable like the first day when 18 wickets fell. Saurashtra's Kishan Parmar was named Man-of-the-Match for his classy 149 in the second innings.

Saurashtra gained six points from this win, but more importantly, as coach Sitanshu Kotak stressed, the youngsters discovered virtue in not giving up.

“I told them to keep fighting after getting bowled out for 92 on the first day. I reminded them about the funny nature of cricket and asked them to believe in themselves, without worrying about the outcome.” Patel who had taken five wickets in the first innings added four more in the second for a nine-wicket match haul.

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