The seamers bowled at good length, pitching their deliveries further up to get more swing, and the slip cordon stood with soft hands that absorbed anything offered in their vicinity. Delhi were just sticking to the basics, but it was all that was needed on a true Motibaug wicket in their Ranji Trophy opener.

Hosts Baroda showed some flashes of brilliance, but overall their batting effort was only a shade above average as they ended Day Three on 319 for eight, still 122 runs from the 441 required to avoid a follow-on. At stumps, the durable Rajesh Pawar was at the crease on 42, compiled over 117 minutes with five boundaries, and Ajitesh Argal was batting on six.

For Delhi, who may still be ruing the lack of time to force an outright win, Sumit Narhwal and Parwinder Awana were standout bowlers. Awana hit the deck hard to generate some serious bounce and picked up two wickets for 54, while the off-the-pitch movement complemented the natural swing of Narhwal, who returned with figures of three for 70.

Little Punit Bisht was kept interested throughout the day — the Delhi wicketkeeper started his collection of six dismissals on Thursday when Baroda skipper Connor Williams nicked Narhwal in the day’s third over. Azhar Bilakhia fell early, too, when Shikhar Dhawan dived to his right for a brilliant catch at second slip to give Narhwal a double strike. The experienced Satyajit Parab also fell before lunch — to Rajat Bhatia’s friendly seam-up bowling — as the hosts were running out of hope at 128-3 after the first session.

... contd.