Favourites Delhi eye outright win against struggling Haryana

Starting as overwhelming favourites, Delhi would look for an outright win against a struggling Haryana to provide a much-needed boost to the their topsy-turvy campaign in the Ranji Trophy tournament as the two sides prepare for a Group B match, here from tomorrow.

With one win, one loss and two draws under their belt, Delhi are presently lying third position with 11 points, and a win in their next match would definitely strengthen their position in Group B.

Having lost their first match against Uttar Pradesh with a full-strength side, a relatively younger outfit led by Shikhar Dhawan made amends against minnows Odisha by pocketing seven points.

However, Delhi pocketed a point from their next match against Baroda before earning three points against Tamil Nadu by virtue of first innings lead.

After a relatively slow start, Delhi's batting line-up has started to produce results.

In the absence of big guns such as Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli, Delhi's batting unit has blossomed with four of its batsmen Dhwan, Unmukt Chand, Mohit Sharma and Vaibhav Rawal -- registering centuries in their last outing against Tamil Nadu.

However, what remains a matter of grave concern for coach Vijay Dahiya is their listless bowling display.

Inspite of enforcing follow-on on Tamil Nadu, Delhi bowlers failed to bowl out the southern side in their second innings, thereby letting off a great opportunity to register an outright victory in the elite domestic tournament.

Pacer Parwinder Awana remains the lone consistent performer for Delhi with young left-arm pacer Pawan Suyal coming good in the first innings of the last match.

But Delhi has been let down in a big way by the performance of its spinners.

Delhi coach Dahiya, however, remains an optimistic person and feels his side has "80 to 90 per cent chance" of qualifying for the quarterfinal stage of the tournament.

... contd.

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