BHUBANESWAR, OCT 30: Table-toppers Delhi crawled to 99 for one against Odisha on the first day of the Group A Ranji Trophy cricket encounter at KIIT Cricket Stadium here today as bad light curtailed play to 48.2 overs only.
Put into bat, Dhruv Shorey and Delhi Captain Gautam Gambhir got the team off to a steady start with a partnership of 74 which ended with the wicket of Shorey (42). The Delhi innings has seen a run-rate of 2.05 so far with some disciplined bowling from the Odisha bowlers.
Pace spearhead Basant Mohanty cleaned up Shorey in the 40th over, but new man Nitish Rana (15 not out) and bad light made sure that the visitors have no more casualties.
Gambhir has been very cautious in his 148-ball stay so far, his innings laced with three boundaries. Earlier Shorey struck seven fours in his 114-ball innings.
Delhi, who conceded three points to Bengal in their previous encounter at Feroz Shah Kotla, will be looking for their third outright win in their fifth game this season, while the Biplab Samantaray-led side, which is placed sixth in the group table, is looking for a better showing.
Brief Scores: Delhi 99/1 in 48.2 overs (Dhriv Shorey 42, Gautam Gambhir 35 not out; Basant Mohanty 1-31).
