VVS Laxman was kept busy through Tuesday afternoon. The Indian middle order batsman was stuck in Mumbai after his flight back home to Hyderabad was delayed, but Laxman had to attend to an SOS call from the Uppal Stadium — not from his camp, but from a friend in the rival camp.

Ashish Nehra’s search for a dependable MRI scan for his strained right hamstring ended at the Krishna Medical Institute on Laxman’s reference. The Delhi dressing room spent the first two sessions worrying about Nehra’s fitness keeping the crucial game against Mumbai, but towards close of play on Day Two, the visitors had a lot more to fret about after the top-order had flattered to deceive.

Both Aakash Chopra and Shikhar Dhawan had thrown away starts, and when Mayank Tehlan’s stumps went flying off an inside edge on the last ball of the day, Delhi were left at 124 for 3 from 41 overs — 210 runs away from gaining the first-innings lead. Having imposed themselves in the initial overs of the chase, the visitors have allowed Hyderabad to claw their way back into the game. Tehlan’s 66-ball 13 had put the brakes on the scoring rate towards the end of an extended final session, and his dismissal set up an interesting first session for Wednesday.

The Delhi run-rate had hovered at around five an over in the first 10 overs, but slipped steadily after Shikhar Dhawan left the crease. The left-hander had stamped his authority with some power-packed on-side play that complemented Aakash Chopra’s sublime high-elbow shots through the covers.

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