After heroically battling out one-and-a-half sessions, adding 115 runs in 55.5 overs on the third day against Gujarat, Delhi neither had three points nor enough time to press for an outright victory and grab five. The visitors wound up for 314 in reply to the home side’s first-innings score of 350. Openers Priyank Panchal and Nilesh Modi then scored 76 without parting, taking the overall lead to 112 to set up another drab final day’s play.

Despite Delhi's failure to grab the initiative, the day belonged to Yogesh Nagar, the 18-year old debutant who showed both pragmatism and superstition during his eventful stay at the crease. Wearing the same set of sweat-stained whites that had brought him his first 40 runs on Monday, he used a combination of rock-solid defence and clever nudges to reach his maiden first-class half-century from 142 deliveries. He was the only batsman in the game to figure out where his fourth stump was — anything on it or further outside off was left alone.

The Delhi number seven’s greatest contribution lay in how he donned the mantle of senior partner in a seventh-wicket partnership of 108 with Sumit Narhwal. Threatening to take the match away from Gujarat, Narhwal and Nagar patted each other often, and talked frequently. The Delhi dressing room had started the countdown from 100 when Narhwal was given out lbw to a contentious decision. Resistance broken, and confidence shaken, Delhi took lunch at 280 for 7 and a feeling of slow death started seeping in when Nagar was declared caught behind, another controversial decision by umpire Sameer Bandekar, after an outstanding knock of 79 from 289 minutes.

Chetnya Nanda remained stranded on 25 as Pradeep Sangwan and Parvinder Awana were fooled by Mohnish Parmar’s off-breaks. The bowler with a Muralitharan-like action ended up with four wickets while Siddharth Trivedi snared three.

Blame it on Bandekar?

Sameer Bandekar has been known to get into the news for the wrong reasons. On Tuesday, two contentious decisions by the Mumbai-based umpire spoilt an interesting battle between bat and ball.

His errors contributed to Delhi falling 36 runs short of Gujarat’s first-innings total. Bandekar first declared Sumit Narhwal lbw despite an inside edge, and Yogesh Nagar was then adjudged caught behind though the ball had just deviated off the wicket. Bandekar later apologised. “I will write a strong letter against Bandekar, he has a special dislike for Delhi. This kind of umpiring has taken away the spirit of the game,” Sunil Dev, the DDCA sports secretary, said here.