A strong foundation stone for Delhi’s progress, at last, has been laid to build a big score, but the challenges towards the fag end of the season have altered a bit — it’s now about completing pending projects within the four-day deadline.

At 215 for two, Delhi showed the will through 84 overs on the second day of their Ranji Trophy match against Saurashtra’s first innings score of 241.

But the visitors will need a radical jump in their scoring rate and work out the precise moment of declaration for an outright win within the 180 remaining overs.

Taking 18 minutes, seven runs and 3.3 overs on Saturday morning, Parvinder Awana got his first five-wicket haul as the last set of Saurashtra batsmen went out and Delhi openers Aakash Chopra and Shikhar Dhawan walked in. The skipper and his deputy played and missed plenty against the left-arm pair of Sandeep Jobanputra and Balkrishna Jadeja, but suppressed their hunger for shots till lunch. Chopra finally reached his half-century in 121 balls with just four boundaries before falling at slip, having been lured to attack by Rakesh Dhruv.

Kohli punishes

Virat Kohli scored a boundary off just his second ball and went on to make use of every loose ball that leaked from the otherwise tight bowling of Kamlesh Makhwana and Dhruv. Kohli got to his fifty in just 85 balls, with a straight six off Dhruv, but was unfortunately declared run out on 69 by umpire Umesh Sood to a direct throw from Cheteshwar Pujara at point even though the replays suggested otherwise.

... contd.