Tamil Nadu pacers restrict Delhi to 212 for six on Day 1

NEW DELHI: In-form Dhruv Shorey blew away an opportunity to score his third successive hundred in as many innings as Tamil Nadu restricted host Delhi to 212 for six on opening day of a Group B Ranji Trophy game here on Tuesday.

Shorey (66, 168 balls) and left-handed Jonty Sidhu (57, 107 balls) added 105 runs for the third wicket but the home team could hardly dominate on a Feroz Shah Kotla track which became good for batting after the first hour and half.

But the manner in which Sidhu and Vaibhav Rawal (11) were out defending slow bouncers from pacer Sandeep Warrier (3/59 in 22 overs) was embarrassing to say the least.

Warrier and fellow seamer L Vignesh (3/42 in 19 overs) were disciplined as they bowled a probing line and hit good lengths time and again.

It was a good toss that Tamil Nadu skipper Baba Indrajith won as he rightly put Delhi into bat in cold and overcast conditions.

Opener Anuj Rawat got one from Vignesh that was pitched up and the loose shot was snapped up by Vijay Shankar at gully.

In the morning, the ball was still doing a bit and captain Yash Dhull (0) tried an ambitious square cut when Vignesh’s delivery pitched back of length and reared up. However, Dhull was unlucky as there was no edge but he was ruled out due to a poor decision by the umpire.

Shorey, buoyed by his 252 and 150 not out against Assam, was very watchful and had the stodgy Sidhu for company.

Warrier was particularly good with the old ball as he dismissed Sidhu with a well-directed bouncer which the southpaw fended with his bat over his head and N Jagadeesan took a simple catch.

“Last season, we didn’t try the short ball tactic that much but this year, we had decided that we need to use it,” Warrier told mediapersons after the match.

If there was one person, who would curse himself, it would be Shorey, who had done all the hardwork for the previous 167 deliveries before Vignesh mixed it up cleverly.

Brief scores: Delhi 212/6 in 76 overs (D Shorey 66, J Sidhu 57, L Vignesh 3/42, S Warrier 3/59) vs Tamil Nadu